Key Takeaways:

- Être means "To Be" in French, and the goal of this movement is to help today's girls figure out who they want to be.

- By bringing girls directly into companies to meet strong female leaders face to face, they meet role models at an early - and crucial - age.

- Middle school is not too early to talk with girls about big topics like financial confidence, female mentorship, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. In fact, it's exactly the right time.

- Illana wants "Every girl to raise her hand instead of lowering her standards.”

lllana started her career as a lawyer at one of the world’s top law firms. When her daughter was little, she began introducing her to other moms who, like Illana, had great careers and served as amazing role models. This was her way of teaching her daughter that she could be anything she wanted to be. This experience inspired Illana to found Être in 2016. Être is an organization and website that gives girls the tools they need to change the world. Illana’s book was released on the Day of the Girl, October 11, 2019 and was Amazon’s number one new release in Self Esteem Books for Teens and Young Adults!

Authentic feedback is everything. I realized early on that for Être to have relevance I needed smart, young advisors. With 70 middle and high school girls now on our Board, I can say that every good thing that has unfolded has come from these girls. I wish I’d had this group assembled on Day one — they are unfiltered and invaluable.

When developing the future female leaders of tomorrow, it’s so important for them to be aware of the female leaders that are impacting the world right now. Today’s Finding Brave guest was inspired by her own daughter to put female role models in front of girls at an early age, and as she shares, we all have a part to play in this critical movement.

According to reports, girls’ confidence and self-esteem peaks around age 9, and falls from there. We see it all the time, girls suddenly feel self-conscious of their appearance as their bodies change, they see women in the media and feel they need to wear makeup to get that airbrushed look, they hear gossip at sleepovers and feel they need to be the best at everything to stand out from the crowd and avoid being picked on. What can we do to help foster confidence in girls as they go through the difficult stages of middle school and high school? Here to talk us through it is Illana Raia: lawyer, lecturer, and CEO and Founder of Etre Girls, a mentorship platform for young girls.

Illana Raia, CEO and founder of Être Girls, joins ChedHER to discuss how she helps young girls grow their confidence and teaches them about financial literacy and philanthropy.

Iliana Raia is a former corporate attorney who founded Etre for girls to expose them to the business world. She takes groups of 10 girls into corporations to help them envision themselves there. Her new book Etre: Girls- Who Do You Want to Be is all about girls empowerment, Gabby White, founder of ARCHY, is on the board and is featured in the book. www.etregirls.com

The organization Être Girls bolsters middle school aged girls by finding female mentors at global brands to talk to the girls about how to “Be Smart, Be Wise, Be Innovative.” The group has a new book entitled, Être: Girls, Who Do You Want to Be? It features two Jacksonville girls involved in the movement and is already an Amazon best seller. We spoke about, “Être,” which means “to be,” with founder Illana Raia.

Ensuring free access to role models for girls from all backgrounds is vital to our mission, and I am constantly seeking mentors of my own to help navigate this path.

Today we’re celebrating International Day of the Girl by teaming up with our friends at Être to help empower and inspire you to follow your biggest dreams.

Être is a mentorship and resource platform encouraging middle school girls to embrace their passions and become their most authentic selves. Their new book, Être: Girls, Who Do You Want to Be? is out today and we think it’s a must-have for every girl. Whether you dream of inventing your own product or using your voice to change the world, the Être book is the tool you need to make those dreams a reality. Having an idea is the easy part, but taking action or figuring out where to start can hold back even the most brilliant dreams. That’s where this book comes in handy.

Illana Raia, CEO and Founder of Être, a resource site for middle and high school girls, has written a guidebook, “Girls, Who Do You Want To Be,” dedicated to helping girls develop their own identities. Filled with colorful pages and wisdom from over forty women and fifty girls, this book encourages girls to find their passions, stick with them, and use those interests to fuel their way to become their best possible selves. This book offers tools to help girls develop and thrive while staying authentic in the process. The book’s framework will empower girls to be the next generation of leaders and role models in our world.

Through Être, Illana Raia introduces middle school-aged girls to female executives working in companies like Spotify, Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange.

Être means “to be.” So, for Illana Raia, Être Girls was the perfect name for a resource for middle and high school. Être Girls uses mentorship to teach girls across the country to be informed, smart, brave, charitable, happy, strong, brave, strong, connected, wise, innovative and well-read. It’s ultimately helping young girls answer the question, who exactly do you want to be?

We got together with Illana to find out more about Être Girls and how middle and high school girls in Stamford can get involved!

Launched 24 months ago with curated links & role model quotes for middle school girls, Être expands with after-school mentorship clubs, on-site Lunch & Learns with female execs and an all-girl Board.

A series of relevant and refreshingly candid interviews featuring inspiring and accomplished women talking about work-life balance. I’ve always been curious about how women I admire manage the tragically glorified “doing it all” craze. So I asked them. As I suspected, no one really does “it all.” Everyone’s making sacrifices somewhere. And that should make us all feel a little better. I hope the conversation will be steered toward that reality rather than toward the flawed and dangerous assumption that we should try—or even want to try—to perfectly do “it all.”

When Illana’s daughter was in grade school, she emailed some girlfriends and asked if they would take part in a one-day “girls summit” at her home. She pictured her daughter and her friends gaining wisdom from accomplished women – writers, surgeons, CEOs, designers, attorneys, news anchors. This idea lead to the founding of Être , a place girls can go to help them find their own path in life, and what they want “to be.”

Mentorship always played an important role in Illana Raia’s career. As a young lawyer, Raia worked in mergers and acquisitions at Skadden Arps.

Meet Illiana Raia, lawyer, lecturer and founder of ‘Être’ – a site and movement providing resources to girls helping to build their confidence and futures.