Kayla Cato’s Fundraiser For Strong Women Strong Girls

"I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back." ―Malala Yousafzai. Malala is an advocate for women empowerment across the world. Through the defiance of fear, Malala stood up for gender equality and equal rights to an education. Even in countries like the U.S., societies are still struggling with income gaps between men and women and challenges for women in the work place still occur. Women are also underrepresented in many STEM based careers. However, there are more and more young women, like Malala Yousafzai, speaking up against these issues and demanding change.

One of these young women include a fourteen year old girl from Braintree, MA, named Kayla Cato. Kayla is currently completing her last year of Middle School at East Braintree Middle School and has believed in equal opportunities for men and women since she was six years old. At a young age in elementary school, Kayla experienced stereo types, such as boys are said to be better in math and science, and girls are meant to be more artistic. However, she challenged those ideologies early on and excelled in both math and science throughout her academic studies. Kayla became a member of the Russian School of Mathematics in Milton, MA and was also selected to participate in a computer programming class for girls, called CodeIt at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the spring of 2017.

Since Kayla was thirteen years old, she has chosen to forgo presents on her birthday and has preferred for her family and friends to donate to a good cause instead. This year, Kayla has chosen Strong Women Strong Girls, as her organization of choice to donate to, since it aligns with her mission of Girl Empowerment. Kayla has hosted a fundraiser on March 31st, 2018 and was able to raise a total of $500 for Strong Women Strong Girls through the support of her family and friends. During the fundraiser, Kayla held a speech about the importance of self-confidence and not allowing negative thoughts or environments, to determine the great potential that every human being carries inside of them, despite of their gender.

Following Kayla’s speech was a very informative presentation by Marynee Pontes, who has been a part of Strong Women Strong Girls, since she was a young girl herself. It was wonderful to hear her story and to see how the organization has inspired Marynee’s academic success and self-confidence at a young age. It also demonstrates how successful Strong Women Strong Girls is by bringing their participants and the concepts of the organization full circle. Marynee Pontes brought her eleven year old niece to the event, who is currently a member of Strong Women Strong Girls. It was wonderful to hear of her experiences firsthand, as she is an active participant of the organization’s current curriculum.

The evening ended with a musical performance by Lindsay Straw, who performs traditional English and Irish music. In support of the Girl Empowerment event, Lindsay’s song selection included a variety of songs in which women heroes were outlined, which is not typical in her genre of specialization. However, Lindsay Straw is also a strong advocate for Women Empowerment and even donated her time and performance to Kayla’s fundraiser for Strong Women Strong Girls, traveling all the way from Salem, MA to Hingham, MA, where the fundraiser was held.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening of supporting Strong Women Strong Girls and it’s wonderful mission of empowering young girls and giving them the confidence to dream big! As Kayla outlined in her speech, having high self-confidence and not allowing the fear of failure to control your life, will allow people to achieve their full potential and become a great contributor to their country’s economy. Whether you are a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, all genders should
have equal opportunities and the ability to achieve their unlimited potential!