Passion Projects
Below are some of my favorite personal projects I've worked on over the last few years
Passion Projects
Below are some of my favorite personal projects I've worked on over the last few years
Some highlights ...
In 2008, my family and I visited Cambodia for the first time. This experience I often point to as the nexus for my dedication to education and commitment to making the world a better place. When I returned, I started “Operation Cambodia Education” and spent the next four years of high school fundraising and giving presentations about Cambodia’s history under the reigns of the Khmer Rouge and the multi-generational impact of a dismantled education system on a country’s ability to rebuild and heal. A LOT of friends and community members helped me along the way.
I think this period of life also marks where I became resilient to the word “no.” BUT after more “nos” than I’d like to remember, in 2011 I returned to Cambodia to officially open “Valerie Quirk’s School of Hope.”
The school continues to serve primary school students in the Kampong Cham Province of Cambodia.
Some highlights...
🏫
I built a school.
In 2008, my family and I visited Cambodia for the first time. This experience I often point to as the nexus for my dedication to education and commitment to making the world a better place. When I returned, I started “Operation Cambodia Education” and spent the next four years of high school fundraising and giving presentations about Cambodia’s history under the reigns of the Khmer Rouge and the multi-generational impact of a dismantled education system on a country’s ability to rebuild and heal. A LOT of friends and community members helped me along the way.
I think this period of life also marks where I became resilient to the word “no.” BUT after more “nos” than I’d like to remember, in 2011 I returned to Cambodia to officially open “Valerie Quirk’s School of Hope.”
The school continues to serve primary school students in the Kampong Cham Province of Cambodia.
⭐I founded a nonprofit by and for women.
My freshman year of high school I signed up for the morning school announcements and asked if anyone wanted to meet after school to talk about issues that primarily affect women and girls. These weekly discussions after school with friends has since grown to an organization that has served over 20,000 women and girls around the world and continues to host chapters across the United States at both the high school and university level.
Girls 4 Good (also known as “Girls of Outreach and Diversity” by some chapters) works with a three-pronged approach which entails:
- Weekly discussions
- Local community engagement
- Global Action
Each chapter hosts weekly discussions on issues that primarily impact women and girls with a key focus on equity in education. We have hosted local mentoring programs, partnered with national organizations like Girls on the Run as mentors, hosted a city-wide Local Ideas Festivals, and held Empowerment Retreats for young adults. We’ve partnered with the Buchanan Institute Girls High School in Kerala, India to construct a cafeteria and dining facilities and with the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at the University of Miami and the organization A Call to Men to organize bystander intervention trainings.
⭐
I founded a nonprofit by and for women.
My freshman year of high school I signed up for the morning school announcements and asked if anyone wanted to meet after school to talk about issues that primarily affect women and girls. These weekly discussions after school with friends has since grown to an organization that has served over 20,000 women and girls around the world and continues to host chapters across the United States at both the high school and university level.
Girls 4 Good (also known as “Girls of Outreach and Diversity” by some chapters) works with a three-pronged approach which entails:
- Weekly discussions
- Local community engagement
- Global Action
Each chapter hosts weekly discussions on issues that primarily impact women and girls with a key focus on equity in education. We have hosted local mentoring programs, partnered with national organizations like Girls on the Run as mentors, hosted a city-wide Local Ideas Festivals, and held Empowerment Retreats for young adults. We’ve partnered with the Buchanan Institute Girls High School in Kerala, India to construct a cafeteria and dining facilities and with the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at the University of Miami and the organization A Call to Men to organize bystander intervention trainings.
Girls on the Run
One of our longest partnerships is with the national organization “Girls on the Run” which is “dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.”
Girls 4 Good members serve as “Running Buddies” to elementary-aged girls as they train for a 5K and participate in empowering curriculum.
FACE IT Photo Exhibit
Each year, Girls 4 Good partners with the student organization SPARK to host the “FACE IT Photo Exhibit” at the University of Miami. FACE IT seeks to understand and challenge the way students on campus see themselves.
Participants are asked to personally choose one insecurity for them to write about and reflect on and are photographed with that word written on their bodies. In turn, they are asked to choose a partner who chooses a word that reflects the best of the participant and that word is also written on their bodies and photographed. At the event itself, attendees are given post-it notes in order to interact with the images with words of empathy, encouragement, and love.
FACE IT challenges personal insecurities by taking them head on.
This project was inspired by Steve Rosenfeld’s “What I Be” project. FACE IT images below taken by photographers Collin Li, Mariana Espindola, and Emily Robbins.
Girls on the Run
One of our longest partnerships is with the national organization “Girls on the Run” which is “dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.”
Girls 4 Good members serve as “Running Buddies” to elementary-aged girls as they train for a 5K and participate in empowering curriculum.
FACE IT Photo Exhibit
Each year, Girls 4 Good partners with the student organization SPARK to host the “FACE IT Photo Exhibit” at the University of Miami. FACE IT seeks to understand and challenge the way students on campus see themselves.
Participants are asked to personally choose one insecurity for them to write about and reflect on and are photographed with that word written on their bodies. In turn, they are asked to choose a partner who chooses a word that reflects the best of the participant and that word is also written on their bodies and photographed. At the event itself, attendees are given post-it notes in order to interact with the images with words of empathy, encouragement, and love.
FACE IT challenges personal insecurities by taking them head on.
This project was inspired by Steve Rosenfeld’s “What I Be” project. FACE IT images below taken by photographers Collin Li, Mariana Espindola, and Emily Robbins.
I love food, storytelling, and broadcast media. I immediately jumped on the opportunity to apply to be a Storyteller Intern for New York University’s Office of Interactive Media. We were tasked with executing video projects from start to finish that captured and elevated student voice and student life.
I created and hosted a webs series highlighting the best eateries around the NYU area called “NYum.” Along with my incredible partner Sandra Tan, I partnered with local restaurants and took NYU students along with me to try out different spots.
🍕
I hosted a food-centered web series.
I love food, storytelling, and broadcast media. I immediately jumped on the opportunity to apply to be a Storyteller Intern for New York University’s Office of Interactive Media. We were tasked with executing video projects from start to finish that captured and elevated student voice and student life.
I created and hosted a webs series highlighting the best eateries around the NYU area called “NYum.” Along with my incredible partner Sandra Tan, I partnered with local restaurants and took NYU students along with me to try out different spots.
