Project Fearless

Another successful year of building a Fearless community. Our official 2023 impact report will be published in February 2024, in the meantime here are some highlights:

 Impact: In 2023 we welcomed over 530 girls and gender non-conforming kids across 46 courses in 2 Dutch cities. We held 15 events and welcomed over 883 new faces to the Project Fearless community.

Events: In 2023, our events prioritized community-building. Some of our most successful and new events of 2023 were:

• Reimagine Fashion Workshop (for ages 9-14)- Families from all over Rotterdam came along to this free sewing workshop. Working with local Rotterdam sewers, PF Coaches guided the kids to upcycle pre-loved fabrics into tote bags. They got to unleash their creativity, with all tools, machines and supplies provided for free. It was super successful: 14 girls left feeling inspired and excited about their unqiue creations!
  
  The Fearless 5k (for all ages and genders)-A Fearless dream came true for us this year: over 250 keen runners, 5K newbies, kids and adults came together for a community fundraiser run. We welcomed all ages and genders, with 3 start times for keen runners, fun runners and 5K walkers. 
  
  
• Ace Your Applications (ages 14-18)- Over the year our teen role models told us they wanted support on how to set up a CV and fill in uni applications, to show their skills and strengths and were looking for guidance on how to write up their experiences to confidently get across what they have to offer In December 14 teens joined us to work on building a CV that tells their story, their way! Panel talk, group work, and one on one mentorship from women in leadership

   

New Courses: This year we added 3 new courses to our established line up.

• Sustainable Sewing: An 8-week course for ages 12-14 that focused on hands on skills to repair, reinvent, and re-love your current closet. Inspiring the next generation of makers and sustainable practices.

• Mothers Kickboxing: We got a load of requests from mothers for their own Kickboxing sessions, after seeing their girls come home with sweaty, happy faces!Role models are important, in sports and at home. If girls see their mothers doing sports, it might motivate them to keep the habit as they grow older. See her, be her

• Mind & Movement Lab Rotterdam: 6 weeks of moving without limits, this was our first ever Rotterdam program and it was a huge success with 15 girls showing up each week to try a new movement or sport. From football or yoga, the girls got out of their comfort zones and met knew friends and role models along the way.

Coaches Development: This year, we worked hard on professionalizing our Coaches’ Playbook. It started life as a guide to the emotional learning content we thread through all our programs. Now, it’s become a digital/physicial resource with:

• Deeper insights into the age groups Coaches work with
• Each program session’s aims, plus context on weekly topics (e.g., understanding introversion/extroversion)
• Rolling improvements based on regular Coaches’ feedback opportunities 

 In 2023, we saw that Project Fearless has increasingly become a safe space for girls struggling with their mental health. We’re proud to be a place where they can be themselves, make friends and feel seen. To protect this space, for girls and Coaches, we focused multiple Coaches’ Days and workshops on how to coach girls experiencing mental health struggles, while protecting Coaches’ own emotional boundaries.

To continue our coaches development both in and our of Project Fearless we hosted the following workshops:

• Defining & Setting Boundaries
• Emergency First Aid Training
• Nike MTP Hijab workshop
• 2 Coaches Days- half day training sessions on the Project Fearless coaching methodology

Moments of impact:

“Establishing boundaries is an act of self-love. I think you mentioned the word ‘empowered’ and that really resonated with how I feel when consciously setting boundaries.”

— Fearless Coach, during the workshop

“Zoe doesn't really like to do sports so when she mentioned she would like to try skateboarding I immediately jumped on getting her enrolled somewhere. However, the only available classes were full of boys who knew each other already and Zoe had a difficult time standing up for herself. She still loves to skate so I was super happy to see this skate event for girls popping up!”
— Fearless parent

“I want to commit to Project Fearless because, deep down, I think I needed a group like this when I was younger. Where there was a place to feel comfortable, to learn new things and be surrounded by strong women, to be reminded of what you can achieve.”

— Fearless Coach 

“Kamar loved the atmosphere at the sewing event so that's why I figured I’d enrol her in the Mind & Movement Lab as well. If you can get her to sew maybe you can get her to do sports as well!”
— Fearless parent

2023 Partnerships:

New partners:

• The Gemeente of Rotterdam
• The Athlete’s Foot
• Lynk & Co
• Studio XAG (attach link)
• Equals.nl
• Fashion for Good

 Continued partnerships:

• Nike Made to Play
• OBA Amsterdam
• Women @Stryker
• De Koffiejongens

Goals for 2024

As we head into our 5^th year as an organization our goals have become broader and focus on sustainable growth for future of Project Fearless. 

1. Establishing and building the foundational team of Project Fearless- sustainable growth enables us to hire and train the right people on the Project Fearless team. Our first hire in 2024 will be a Rotterdam based coordinator and then a Partnerships and Funding manager.
2. Through partnerships, donations and grants- having all of our Amsterdam based courses sponsored so cost of a program never becomes a barrier to Fearlessness
3. Building a strong Fearless community in Rotterdam – through courses, events, and community outreach we hope to establish Rotterdam as its own sister city as diverse and resilient as the programs in Amsterdam

Links:

• Our instagram
• Our Autumn ARTivism finale
• Fearless 5k recap video