Sprinkled throughout greater Indianapolis, a handful of donors, volunteers, and staff will spend an evening to benefit girls. The idea is simple: hosts gather friends, coworkers, or peers and donate what they would have spent on a night out to Girls Inc. That doesn’t mean that fun won’t be had!

Why have there been no female presidents? What we do know is that 12% of American voters would not vote for a female presidential candidate, regardless of the candidate, and that only 75% of American voters believe that men and women are equally capable of leading. We can’t truly answer that question, but we can examine the perception of powerful women in America.

Last Saturday I attended my third Girls Inc. speakers bureau training in collaboration with Butler University’s Speakers Lab. The experience changes each training with the composition of the group and offers different take-aways, or as we call them at Girls Inc., “ah-ha” moments.

In the last 5 months I have asked many girls, “Why is it important to be your own friend first?” Each time there are answers ranging from, “you can’t be nice to other people if you are not nice to yourself” and “how are you supposed to like other people if you’re mad at yourself all of the time?”

In honor of Black History Month, I'd like to recognize the first self-made female millionaire in the United States, and Hoosier, Madam CJ Walker. Her contributions to