Girls Excellence Movement - GEM

What Girls Excellence Movement - GEM does

The Girls Excellence Movement (GEM) is a registered non-profit, volunteer-driven youth organization founded in 2008 and headquartered in Accra, Ghana, that builds capacity for adolescent girls through mentorship, advocacy, and direct outreach. Its core program is "Inspiration-On-Wheels," a mobile outreach initiative that visits senior high schools across Ghana to deliver soft-skills training, mentoring, menstrual hygiene education, and sanitary pad distribution. GEM augments this with the annual National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit (NGLES), launched in 2024, targeting 300 girls' prefects from all 16 regions of Ghana at Achimota School, Accra. The organization also publishes advocacy research, most notably the "Sheltered Yet Exposed" report documenting abuse rates among Ghanaian girls, and maintains periodic IOW impact reports.

GEM's service portfolio targets senior high school girls as primary beneficiaries, with secondary engagement of government, educational institutions, and policy stakeholders to support advocacy work on gender-based violence, sexual abuse awareness, and girls' leadership. The organization has reportedly reached more than 13,000 girls across 45+ schools and operates across all 16 regions of Ghana.

GEM's revenue model is donation-based: the organization accepts contributions through PayPal and other channels from individuals, corporations, diaspora organizations, and in-kind partners, including Softcare Sanitary Pad, Sunda International, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority USA, Delovely Ventures Ghana, and Special Ice Group of Companies Ghana. GEM became a 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Nonprofit in Washington State, USA in 2021, enabling cross-border tax-deductible giving. Programs are delivered free of charge to beneficiaries. The organization is led by Founder and Executive Director Juliana Ama Kplorfia and operates with approximately 12 employees, supplemented by an undisclosed volunteer base across Ghana and US-based support offices in Teaneck, NJ and Seattle, WA.

Name

Girls Excellence Movement - GEM

Legal name

Girls Excellence Movement

Website

https://thegemworld.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GEM is a Ghana-based non-profit youth organization that delivers mentorship, leadership training, and menstrual hygiene outreach to senior high school girls across all 16 regions, operating the Inspiration-On-Wheels program and National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Mentorship and Girls' Leadership Development

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Growth Mindset, Motivation & Goal-Setting Programs (EDAMAIAE)

Keywords

• Youth mentorship programs
• Girls leadership development
• Menstrual hygiene education
• Gender-based violence prevention
• School outreach programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Accra

HQ country

Ghana

HQ region

Africa

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: GEM operates as a registered non-profit organization receiving donations from individuals, corporations, and international supporters. They accept donations through PayPal and other channels to fund their outreach programs, sanitary pad distribution, and leadership summits.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GEM is a registered non-profit youth organization that builds capacity for senior high school girls in Ghana through two flagship programs: the Inspiration-On-Wheels mobile school outreach initiative (delivering mentoring, soft-skills training, menstrual hygiene education, and distribution of sanitary pads on-site at schools) and the annual National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit (NGLES) that convenes 300 girls' prefects from all 16 regions for intensive leadership training. All programs are delivered free of charge to beneficiaries and funded through donations, corporate sponsorships, and in-kind contributions.

Product overview

GEM operates as a non-profit youth organization offering a portfolio of girl empowerment programs. The core offerings include the Inspiration-On-Wheels mobile outreach program that delivers mentorship and educational resources directly to schools, the annual National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit (NGLES) for developing future female leaders, and research publications such as the Sheltered Yet Exposed Report documenting challenges facing girls. These programs are supported by advocacy and activism initiatives focused on menstrual hygiene education, gender-based violence awareness, and sexual assault prevention.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Inspiration-On-Wheels A mobile school outreach program that travels to senior high schools across Ghana to deliver on-site mentoring, soft-skills training, menstrual hygiene education, and distribution of sanitary pads and educational materials to adolescent girls.
• National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit (NGLES) An annual flagship summit that brings together 300 girls' prefects from senior high schools in all 16 regions of Ghana to develop leadership skills, confidence, and networks, with the goal of preparing them to become effective change leaders and global change agents.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 13,000 girls mentored from 45+ schools
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered supporting, key and core.

• Sunda InternationalsupportingOthers · 28 November 2020Corporate donor supporting GEM's Inspiration On Wheels outreach held in the Anfoega Traditional Area on 28th November 2020
• Softcare Sanitary PadsupportingOthers · 28 November 2020In-kind donor providing sanitary pads for distribution to girls during outreach programs
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Group, USAsupportingOthers · 28 November 2020International diaspora support organization donating to GEM's outreach efforts in Ghana
• BluetownkeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 November 2020Technology partner that collaborated with GEM to train girls at ABUSCO through a capacity-building program called Inspiration-On-Wheels
• Delovely Ventures GhanasupportingOthers · 28 November 2020Ghanaian business contributing donations to GEM's outreach programs
• Special Ice Group of Companies GhanasupportingOthers · 28 November 2020Corporate donor supporting GEM's community outreach activities
• Educational InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGEM seeks partnerships with educational institutions to broaden the reach and impact of the National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit across African countries within 5 years
• CorporationscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGEM actively seeks corporate sponsorship opportunities for the National Girls' Leadership Excellence Summit and broader programs
• Diplomatic MissionssupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerGEM seeks partnerships with diplomatic missions to expand international support for girls' education and leadership programs
• NGOscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGEM seeks NGO partnerships for resource sharing and collaborative programming to maximize impact on girls' empowerment across Africa

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Plan International Ghana: Plan International operates globally and in Ghana with a broad girls' empowerment, child rights, and gender equality portfolio. Overlaps with GEM on school-based mentoring and gender-based violence prevention, but covers a much wider thematic and geographic scope.
• Malala Fund: Malala Fund advocates globally for girls' education and funds local activists and organizations in multiple countries including in Africa. Comparable mission and advocacy focus on girls' education and leadership, though operating at global scale rather than community grassroots delivery.

Emerging players

• WAAW Foundation (Working to Advance STEM Education for African Women): WAAW Foundation runs STEM-focused capacity-building programs for African women and girls, including school outreach and mentoring. Comparable to GEM's leadership and capacity-building programs, with a narrower STEM emphasis.

Direct peers

• CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education): CAMFED supports girls' education and leadership across sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana, through community-led mentoring, school outreach, and alumnae networks. Highly comparable to GEM's Inspiration-On-Wheels model and leadership-summit approach, though at much larger scale.
• Girl Effect: Girl Effect builds media, technology, and branded content to shift attitudes and empower adolescent girls in Africa and Asia. Compares to GEM on girls' empowerment mission and adolescent focus, but operates primarily through mass-media platforms rather than school visits.
• Purposeful Foundation: Purposeful runs girl-led programs in Sierra Leone focused on leadership, sexual health, and menstrual hygiene, with stated pan-African ambitions. Closely mirrors GEM's pillars (mentoring, menstrual hygiene, GBV awareness) at a similar grassroots scale.

Peers

• African Women's Development Fund (AWDF):

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• TikTokvm.tiktok.com/ZM62MP4xC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/girls-excellence-movement-gem

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Girls Excellence Movement - GEM