Girls Rock MKE Appoints Inaugural Executive Director

Dear Girls Rock MKE Family,

We are so thrilled to share some exciting news with y’all! It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Mary Joy Hickey as Interim Executive Director, Girls Rock MKE’s very first full-time staff position. As a co-founder of our annual Ladies Rock camp, a former co-organizer of Riverwest FemFest festival, and a talented multi-instrumentalist active in the Milwaukee music community, Mary Joy brings a wealth of experience, a deep dedication to our mission and values, and a big heart and vision for channeling the transformational power of music as a vehicle for leadership development and social justice.

Mary Joy's leadership comes at a crucial time for Girls Rock MKE as we embark on a path of revitalization and growth. As we intentionally and strategically build the organization to ensure financial stability, Mary Joy’s strategic acumen, passion for social impact, and dedication to serving our community make her an ideal fit to lead us forward. With her at the helm, we are confident that we will emerge stronger, more resilient, and more impactful than ever before. We are so excited to welcome Mary Joy back into the Girls Rock MKE family.

We also want to express our enduring gratitude to the committed volunteers and part-time staff who have helped pave the way for this position over the last eleven years. Their incredible determination and dedication has had a truly life-changing impact on our campers. We particularly want to acknowledge the contributions of Program Director Amy Upthagrove, who is transitioning out of their role with Girls Rock MKE for personal reasons. Please join us in thanking Amy for their hard work to get the organization to where we are today; we wish them great success on their next adventure.

As always, we are deeply grateful for your unwavering support and dedication to our cause. With Mary Joy's leadership and your continued partnership, we are confident that Girls Rock MKE will continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the girls, women, and gender-expansive youth and adults we serve.

With warm regards,

Girls Rock MKE’s Board of Directors

PS - We invite you to come meet Mary Joy for yourself! Join us for an Executive Director Meet and Greet fundraising event on May 21, 2024, from 4-7pm at Sprecher Brewery! This is a fantastic opportunity to meet Mary Joy, learn about her vision for Girls Rock MKE, and connect with the larger Girls Rock community. Enjoy light appetizers, music, and a drawing featuring exciting prizes. Plus, it’s Mary Joy’s birthday! We hope to see you there!

WE DID IT, y'all!

With your help, we SMASHED our $20K goal!

We owe our amazing community the BIGGEST THANKS EVER for your many, many individual donations; for attending and sharing our fundraising events; as well as the corporate matching donations you helped us get from Google, CNH Industrial, and Johnson Controls! Our hearts are 3 sizes bigger after witnessing your incredible generosity.

We also want to thank everyone who purchased office items from us as we transitioned out of our longtime space at the Blatz Building. We're so glad our abundance of shelves, tables, and supplies will live new lives in your spaces.

Girls Rock MKE would literally not exist if it weren't for our amazing community partners and sponsors. To Music-Go-Round, Cactus+, and X-Ray Arcade, we are grateful beyond words.

Finally, we're so honored to have received several donations and grants from foundations in our community to help us continue doing this work in 2024 (and beyond!). Thank you to the Wisconsin Arts Board, the United Performing Arts Fund, and United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County for your critical support.

• Total raised since announcing our emergency fundraiser on August 24, 2023: $28,524

• Knowing your beloved community has your back when you need them: Priceless

We say this a lot but it’s so true: You rock. You really, really do.

With love and so much gratitude,
The Girls Rock MKE Board of Directors

Check out our full list of 2023 donors here.

Volunteer Spotlight: Band Coaches

Do You Have What It Takes to be a Band Coach?

We interviewed two of our Band Coach volunteers to shine a light on this special camp counselor-like volunteer role!

A Band Coach is assigned to mentor each band at camp (10 per session). Band Coaches lead campers with positive support through songwriting, the creative process, band practice, workshops, and more!

Band Coaches are at camp *all day* each day of camp and stipends are available for your time! Fill out the volunteer application or email volunteer@girlsrockmke.org to learn more.

Q&A with Band Coach: Betty Allen

Girls Rock: How did you hear about Girls Rock MKE or how did you first become involved?

Betty Allen: "I was interning at Milwaukee Film at the time and my mentor said she was volunteering for a new camp, Girls Rock, and suggested I sign up too."

GR: What made you want to get involved?

BA: "I had seen the documentary Girls Rock! In a class in college about the Portland camp and thought it looked awesome. When I heard about there being one in Milwaukee, I wanted to be a part of it."

GR: Do you have a favorite moment from volunteering?

BA: "This is the hardest question! Every camp there is something special that I’ll always remember. From the most recent summer one of my favorite moments is screaming “'SPACE GOATS, SPACE GOATS!' with my campers during our many elevator rides."

GR: What advice would you give to other Band Coaches?

BA: "That you don’t need to have any musical experience, you just need energy and positivity! Being a band coach is all about encouraging your campers to make whatever they want to make, not how to make the “best sounding” song. Whether you are 8 or 80, it can be scary to put yourself out there creatively. As a band coach, your main goal should be cultivating an environment that allows kids to feel comfortable sharing and growing their voice and creativity."

GR: What is a take-away from volunteering? How has Girls Rock impacted your life?

BA: "It has made me realize that trying is cool. Sometimes we think not trying is what cool people do, they are effortless and just do everything great naturally. This is not true! Even as an adult, I’ve struggled with this. At camp, putting yourself out there is what makes the song and performance so amazing. Doesn’t matter if that chord is perfectly timed, just that we can see you strumming away. It has definitely caused me to put myself out there more fearlessly.

"And in a bigger way, I have gained such a beautiful community from camp. I’ve met amazing people and great friends, and each year and am so lucky to spend time with unbelievably cool kids. It energizes me and gives me a huge amount of hope for our future."

Q&A with Band Coach: Robyn Ehrlich

Girls Rock: How did you hear about Girls Rock MKE or how did you first become involved?

Robyn Ehrlich: "I had been vaguely aware of Girls Rock and Ladies Rock MKE for a few years because of my time working at the UWM Student Union Cinema, as we had partnered with the organization on a few screenings. Years later, my former boss at the Union Cinema reached out to me on behalf of her daughter who was connected with Girls Rock, and asked if I would be interested in working with them."

GR: What made you want to get involved?

RE: "I love working with kids and watching them be creative. I was initially interested in working with Girls Rock because I was excited by their mission of empowering and inspiring young girls through music."

Do you have a favorite moment from volunteering?

RE: "The girls in group from session 1 last summer all became obsessed with bringing their stuffed animals and having them be "part of the band." Even during their final performance, they had meticulously placed stuffed animals all around the stage and on some of the instruments as props during the show. "

GR: What advice would you give to other Band Coaches?

RE: "Don't worry about being perfect! It's not going to be perfect, and that's okay. Your main priority should be making sure the campers are feeling comfortable with trying new things and collaborating. In the end, if you can get them up on stage feeling confident and excited to share their work, that's all that matters."

GR: What is a take-away from volunteering? How has Girls Rock impacted your life?

RE: "Girls Rock really helped me realize that I have a passion for working with children! Since working with them over the summer, I started teaching elementary school art classes, and I don't think I would've felt confident enough to pursue that without my experience as a Band Coach."

Amy Lynn's Announcements: March

Camp Registration

As some of our veteran participant families may have noticed we opened camp registration on February 15th, earlier than we ever have in the past, to record success. Within the first week of registration being open we reached over 50% of our camper capacity! We were able to reach a whole new audience through joining the Milwaukee with Kids Summer Camp Guide.

This summer we will have loads of new 8 and 9 year old campers — so if you are a caregiver for campers who have never attended before, and maybe feeling some nerves — you can help them, rest assured, that dozens of kids will be in the same boat!

Application Process

There were also some changes to our application process. As you can imagine, meeting every camper's preference for instrument, band mates, camp session, etc. can be tricky, but we always do our best! This year we changed the instrument choices from #1 & #2 pick to simply picking two instrument options. The idea behind this is to discourage any camper deflation from not getting their "first choice."

Program Offerings

It can be difficult to explain the programming Girls Rock MKE offers to those who have never experienced it before, but to sum it up, it is about encouraging self expression and collaboration. We do do instrument instruction as an aspect of our programming, but Girls Rock Camp as a whole is about empowerment and finding your voice. We offer this through the field of music.

Camp exists to enhance the diversity of people involved and creating music, and how to do so. Meaning marketing, merch, music history, stage presence, communication skills, highlighting other professions in music outside of musician, negotiation, connections to the local music scene... and instrument instruction.

Camp Planning Committee

The Camp Planning Committee is in full swing getting geared up for our July 2023 camps. If you are interested in getting involved in more of the planning, organizing, partnership aspect of camps please reach out!