Have specific questions about what this year will look like?

Why a name change?

GRP Staff has a whole page about this. But long story short: GRP’s mission and values have evolved over the past several years toward explicit trans affirmation and the name hasn’t caught up to adequately represent this shift.

GRP’s mission remains to foster a joyful culture of creativity, critical thinking, and collective care in order to build a more safe and equitable world. Renaming will help remove the ambiguity and make it crystal clear that the organization affirms trans and gender expansive identities.

If the name changes, will the organization change?

While the organization’s name will no longer be “Girls Rock Philly,” the core values of the organization - and the core constituents who help us to live out these values in our programming, our staff and board, and our day-to-day operations - will remain the same. We imagine that a new name might allow us to show up to the table differently: that is, without assumptions about the genders of the young people (and adults) who get to come to camp, and who want to rock out.

This is a reminder for all of us that the name is not the organization, and the organization is not its name: the name change is one piece of a larger transition process, where we hope to emerge transformed and ready to bring even more people to the party.

Why is our theme transitions?

In music, transitions can be unsettling and difficult, but they can also mark new, exciting, even surprising changes that can completely transform a song or an album. In life, whether the transition one experiences is a gender transition, a life transition (a new job, a move, the birth of a child or the passing of a loved one), or an institutional transition, transitions require that we address and assess our core values, and check in on ourselves as individuals and as a community.

We (the three facilitators) have started referring to ourselves as transition doulas, as we will be facilitating, supporting and bearing witness to these profound life transitions.

Why are you (the facilitators) calling yourselves transition doulas?

A doula accompanies an individual through a significant life transition (typically a birth or death process) by providing emotional, physical, spiritual support.

We (the three facilitators) have started lovingly referring to ourselves as transition doulas, as we will be facilitating, supporting and bearing witness to these profound individual and organizational transitions.

What is a Strategic Plan? and how is it related to a Name Change?

A strategic plan is a roadmap outlining our community’s shared vision and goals for the next life stage (3-5 years) of this organization. The previous strategic plan is expiring this year and GRP Leadership feels strongly that the process of changing our name must go hand-in-hand with an organizational re-assessment of our core values and goals

What’s the plan for the year?

So. Much.

We (the transition doulas) want this process to feel as authentic to GRP as possible. GRP in 2021 will be running as (pandemic) normal, but we will be organizing programming around our theme of transitions. GRP’s name change will be just one of the transitions we can celebrate during camp and beyond.

We have a timeline that will likely change as we learn about all of you. But for now we’re imagining:

• MARCH, APRIL & JUNE: we’ll be talking to all of you through one-on-ones, surveys, interest group meetings, and conversations with GRP’s caucus groups. We want to know your feelings about the name change, about GRP’s transformation so far, and about your dreams for the future. We aren’t brainstorming new names yet, just figuring out how to get there.

• MAY: will be dedicated to three virtual community town hall sessions. The town halls will be an opportunity for the entire GRP community to come together to celebrate the roots and envision the future of GRP, through and beyond the name change. Thoughts for a new name are welcome at these events, but you don’t have to come with ideas. Come with your stories, your feelings, and your creative energy. We’ll make space for you to talk to each other and the transition doulas.

• JULY IS CAMP SEASON! We'll be having another virtual C.A.R.E Lab this summer. This year’s theme? Transitions! We expect 2021 to be virtual, intergenerational (all ages), and amazing. During camp there will be opportunities for people of all ages to creatively express their ideas for a new name. Save the Dates for Summer Camp (C.A.R.E Lab): 7/15-7/18.*

• SEPTEMBER AND BEYOND: We’ll be picking a new name. Depending on what all of you need, we may hold town halls or other kinds of conversations. And don’t worry, there will be a big party to celebrate the new name.

This timeline may change some as we go. Transitions need flexibility.

Did you miss our Kick Off Event? Watch this 30-minute orientation video to learn more about what this year will look like!

Will these gatherings be virtual or in-person?

If city-wide COVID policy allows for outdoor in-person gatherings again this summer, GRP Staff is considering the possibility of a portion of summer programming being outdoors. Please let us know in your participation survey what you need for COVID safety. We strive to check in with participants as we near the summer to see if your needs have changed.

What will be the objective of the Community Town Halls in May?

The Community Town Halls will be an opportunity for the entire GRP community to come together to celebrate the roots and envision the future of GRP, through and beyond the name change. Thoughts for a new name are welcome at these events, but you don’t have to come with ideas. Come with your stories, your feelings, and your creative energy. We’ll make space for you to talk to each other and the transition doulas.

The first town hall will be open to all ages. The second town hall will be for our Youth, Teens and any former YAC members or campers would would like to offer a Youth/Teen participant perspective.

Remember the town halls are just one way to get involved: be sure to fill out our invitation to participate if you’d like to participate in some other way.

Will 2021 Virtual Summer Camp still feel like camp?

Please scroll down to the bottom of the Transitions page to save all dates!

100% - We wouldn’t have it any other way. While there are many changes and unknowns ahead, we know that this process demands the fearlessness, joy, curiosity and care of Rock Camp. The plan is still taking shape, but you can anticipate youth and adult programming, songwriting and storytelling, musical exploration, and a lot of celebration. Continuing the work Uprising (2017), We are the Ones (2018) and Mad-Liberation (2019), Transitions is our theme for 2021! We’ll be exploring, questioning, challenging and creating our own transition, with all of the GRP Magic of Adult Rock Camp and Summer Camp making it possible.

How can I Get Involved?

There will be lots of ways to get involved during the year (take a look at “what’s the plan?” above.

• RSVP here by Friday, April 30th @ 8PM EST. if you'd like to be kept in the loop! (If you are under 19, please fill out this youth/teen-specific survey.)

• Attend a Community Town Hall in May!
• Attend Summer Soundtrap and Rock Camp (C.A.R.E Lab) in July!

How can I Get in Touch?

We - Sam C., V and TJ - will regularly check the email transitions@girlsrockphilly.org: this email will only be checked by the name change and strategic plan facilitators, not by GRP staff. All communications to this email will be confidential, unless you indicate otherwise.

What if I have an access request/need for these gatherings?

Equitable spaces are accessible to everyone. Let us know if you have accessibility needs that would allow you to participate in our process. You can email us (transitions@girlsrockphilly.org) at any time, or we’ll be asking whenever we invite you to an event. Please give us at least two “working” days (M-F) notice before scheduled events.

Stipends will also be available to participants who would like to participate in the Name Change/Strategic Planning process and need finacial support to be able to take the time to do so. If you need financial support in order to participate, please let us know in your participation survey.

Letting us know by Friday, April 30th if you need a stipend increases the likelihood that we'll be able to offer you financial support.

Naming the Power Dynamics in the Room

GRP aspires to be a courageous space; invite its community to come heart forward - celebrating your identities and experiences, as well as all mistakes we make, and all the things we don’t yet know. Everyone in this community is on a different journey of learning. We all work hard to co-create spaces that are educational and empowering, and we also recognize our knowledge gaps, limitations, and imperfections.

Throughout this name change process, we as your “Transition Doulas” want to be as transparent as possible about the power dynamics involved in the process. As the co-facilitators for this process, who bring a host of professional experiences to the table, we (Sam C., V and TJ) recognize that we, too, hold power in the process. We will be making small decisions about how to proceed with town hall meetings, with individual interviews and/or focus groups, and with how we ultimately choose a name. With what we know right now, we expect the GRP staff and board will make the final decision about the new name (with us representing everything we’ve heard from all of you). We are committed to revisiting this process as we learn more about this beautiful community.

We cannot guarantee that there won’t be ouchy moments– but we can commit to owning our mistakes, integrating critical feedback, and learning alongside you.

With these power dynamics in mind, we are committed to a name-change and strategic planning process that is accountable to the community members who make GRP beautiful, who keep camp (whether virtual or in-person) happening again and again every year. We are determined to combat sexism, transphobia, patriarchy, heteronormativity and other systemic injustice within GRP.

If you have feedback for us during any part of the process, please do not hesitate to email us at: transitions@girlsrockphilly.org.