“Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides. Just like hopes springing high, still I'll rise.”

—  Dr. Maya Angelou

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Building A Brighter Future

WE ARE R.I.S.E. Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was established in South Los Angeles, CA. Our mission is to empower elementary to middle school aged girls of color through equipping them with social emotional and developmental skills they can use in their everyday lives. Areas of focus are self-awareness, personal health and well-being, education, and community philanthropy. The R.I.S.E. Acronym (Resilient, Intelligent, Successful and Empowered) is used as a mantra to provide our mentees with a number of affirmations to hold on to for the rest of their lives.

—

Dr. Ebone Smith-Lenhardt
Founder and President

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Individual and Group Mentoring

Through weekly individual and group mentoring, mentors and mentees focus on positive self-esteem, coping skills, healthy living, and awareness of self-power.

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Workshops

WE ARE R.I.S.E. mentees participate in a series of workshops that are geared toward the strengthening of their social, emotional and personal development. Examples of workshops provided are etiquette, self-advocacy, leadership, and goal setting.

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2023 Initiatives

We will strengthen our mentees by emphasizing the following areas:

  • Self-Awareness

  • Personal Health and Wellness

  • Education

  • Community Philanthropy

 

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Annual Events

Every year, WE ARE R.I.S.E. Inc. conducts a series of annual events that allows our mentees and mentors to celebrate and uplift each other! The purpose of our annual events are to bridge any gap between our mentees and access to resources, life changing experiences, and empowered women who are dedicated to empowering our girls! Our staple annual events consist of annual tea parties, backpack drives, S.T.E.A.M. workshop series and more!
Learn More ➝

Follow Our Journey

 
View fullsize We are extremely honored to share that our founder, Ebone Smith, was nominated for and a winner of the LA Sparks #wearewomen award in the Women and Girls Empowerment category! We are so grateful for the opportunity to continue to show up for and set
View fullsize This year with the help of funding received from the Gucci Changemakers Impact Fund, we were able to host our first annual back to school supply drive! 🎉We are grateful for the opportunity to make sure our mentees are set up for success for their up
View fullsize Good morning! ☀️ Our founder, Ebone Smith, recently participated in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter discussing R.I.S.E. and her reasons for taking the path of converting our girls’ mentorship program into a nonprofit organization! Furt
View fullsize Words cannot express how grateful we are to host our third annual High Tea Party with the support of our community! Our mentees walked away with so many meaningful messages of encouragement and empowerment. Thank you to all of the phenomenal women wh
View fullsize Today we began the first workshop of our RISE Girls in S.T.E.A.M. series. The purpose of this series is to expose our young girls to S.T.E.A.M. through introducing them to female scientists, engineers, technologists, artists, and mathematicians of co
View fullsize We kicked off our R.I.S.E. Girls’ Weekend with a virtual paint night! It was such a success. The purpose of our R.I.S.E. Girls’ Weekend is to have a weekend of fun, community and celebration for our young girls. A special thanks goes to a
View fullsize Meet our mentee, Sissy B., who is the epitome of Resilient, Intelligent, Successful, and Empowered! Entrepreneur and CEO of Sissy B. Nails! She has made us extremely proud. During the pandemic, when they could not travel for Sissy B’s 10th birt
View fullsize As Women’s History Month come to an end we are extremely grateful for our partnership with @thefixxcollective It truly takes a community to collectively empower our youth. The Fixx Collective is an ANTI BLAND SUSTAINABILITY BRAND.  T
View fullsize Oh how we love our R.I.S.E. Girls! Today for our Saturday morning workshop, we focused on the importance of building positive relationships first with ourselves, and others! Our girls blew us away with the knowledge they brought to the table. A few t
View fullsize We see a R.I.S.E. Girls book club on the horizon!!!!! 📚💜💛🥰 Infinite thanks to @jurispprudence for the donation of this phenomenal literature to our mentees! Fiction novel, The Briefcase of Juris P. Prudence, authored by Jessica N. Childress, wil
View fullsize Happy International Women’s Day! On today we would like to honor and give a special thanks to the all of the PHENOMENAL women who have contributed in some form or fashion to the forward movement of R.I.S.E., we love you! 💛 @drrecha @jenebasyl
View fullsize Join us tomorrow as we go live with @thefixxcollective at 10 AM PST, we are going to discuss R.I.S.E., the importance of empowerment through building partnerships and community, and sustaining our communities through empowering our young girls! For

RESILIENT

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INTELLIGENT

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SUCCESSFUL

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EMPOWERED

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RESILIENT • INTELLIGENT • SUCCESSFUL • EMPOWERED •

Testimonials

  • "RISE has increased her self awareness because she is more confident in her own skin."

    R.I.S.E. Parent

  • "It let me believe in myself and that your strong to do anything."

    R.I.S.E. Mentee

  • "RISE has increased her self awareness because she is more confident in her own skin."

    R.I.S.E. Parent

Contact us.

Want your child to be a part of R.I.S.E.?

Would you like your school to partner with us as an after school program?

Are you looking to volunteer with us?

Interested in becoming a long-term donor?

We invite you to fill out the form below!

Please note that we are based in Los Angeles, CA