About Us

Girls Rock! Champaign-Urbana seeks to create a culture of positive self-esteem for girls, transgender, and gender non-conforming youth in our community. Teaching folks how to start a band, write a song, record a track, and play a gig are simply the means by which we hope to achieve this goal, as an investment in our future. Established in 2016, Girls Rock! Champaign-Urbana is a member of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance.

Mission

Girls Rock! Champaign-Urbana’s mission is to empower girls, women, transgender, and gender non-conforming folks using the tools of music education to foster self-esteem and confidence.

We value the power of music as a means to create personal and social change;
We value efforts that actively expand opportunities for girls, women, transgender, and gender non-conforming folks;
We value positive approaches to fighting sexism;
We value integrity, honesty, and respect;
We value appropriate sharing of resources, cooperation, and collaboration;
We value using our collective voice to further our mission;
We value diversity.

Through our music education programs, we are committed to educating girls, women, transgender, and gender non-conforming folks about the musical, technical, and creative aspects involved in musicianship because we believe that young girls are rarely encouraged to explore self-expressive creative outlets and are less likely to be given access to musical and technical instruction or equipment. We believe that rock music can be a crucial tool in allowing young women to respond to preconceived notions of what they can do and what they can become.