How Ambitious Girls Can Thrive Without Burning Out

In today’s college admissions landscape, ambitious girls appear to be doing everything right. They are earning top grades, leading organizations, launching initiatives, stacking advanced coursework, and navigating complex social ecosystems with remarkable competence.

And increasingly, they are exhausted.

Golden Globe Foundation Pushes Mentorship for Young Women

The Golden Globe Foundation and Être Girls are connecting teenagers with mentors across entertainment and media after meeting at Worth’s Groundbreaking Women Summit.

The Power of Mentorship with Illana Raia. Badass Women At Any Age Podcast

Illana Raia's journey to entrepreneurship stemmed from her love of law and her personal experiences with mentorship. Despite loving her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer, she took a break to raise her children and later rejoined her firm. Realizing the impact of showing her daughter accomplished women at work, Illana envisioned scaling this experience to benefit other girls. She left her law practice, driven by the idea of creating a platform where girls could meet female leaders, leading to the founding of Etre. Illana is the founder and CEO of Etre, a membership platform for girls believing that mentors matter as early as middle school. Illana brings girls directly into companies they choose to meet female leaders face to face.

Illana Raia: Mentorship for the Next Generation

This week on The Women’s Current, Sylvia and Molly sit down with Illana Raia, Founder & CEO of Être Girls, an organization that is redefining what mentorship looks like for today’s girls. Illana explains how confidence grows through visibility, and how early access can open doors that girls often never see. She also shares why bringing girls into real rooms — with real women leaders — changes everything.

Together, they explore what ambition looks like across generations. They talk about why girls need women showing up as much as speaking up, and how supporting the next generation strengthens all of us.

Because when women invest in girls, the tide doesn’t just turn — it accelerates.

How You Can Raise A Confident Daughter. Takin’ Care of Lady Business Podcast

I loved the idea of asking girls who they wanted to be. Not necessarily what they wanted to be yet, because that comes later, but who they wanted to be and putting girls face to face with female role models - Illana Raia, Être

Seek Feedback From Your Target Audience

Get your idea directly in front of your audience as soon as possible, then listen hard. What do they love, hate, agree with or disavow? What resonates instantly? What takes too much time to land? Ask for unvarnished feedback, absorb it and then find a new segment of your audience and repeat the entire process. Listen before you leap! - Illana Raia, Être

Golden Globe Foundation treasurer Miriam Spritzer, Être founder Illana Raia, Etre executive producer and chief of content strategy Elizabeth O’Connell and Golden Globe Foundation president Adam Tanswell took part as the Golden Globe Foundation celebrated Day of the Girl with Être and Nasdaq in NYC on Tuesday.

Since 2014, thousands of student groups across the globe have been developing and sharing their ideas using our free TED-Ed Student Talks resources. To celebrate 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks, we have been collecting stories of impact from the program’s facilitators as part of our “10 for 10 years” series.

Tune in and listen to this episode of the Ellevate Network Podcast, Conversations with Women Changing the Face of Business as Tammy Williams speaks with Illana Raia, Founder and CEO of Être Girls, a mentorship platform designed to empower girls by connecting them with female leaders. Illana shares her journey from being a corporate attorney to launching Être, driven by her desire to close the confidence gap for girls. The conversation explores the importance of mentorship, the framework of Être’s programs, and the impact of their initiatives on girls' confidence and leadership skills. Illana also discusses “The Epic Mentor Guide”, a resource for girls seeking guidance from successful women across various industries, and the future aspirations for Être’s global expansion. Illana has authored 60+ articles for HuffPost, Ms. Magazine and Thrive Global, and her award-winning book Être: Girls, Who Do You Want To Be?, and was named one the first 250 entrepreneurs on the Forbes Next 1000 List. Illana is a member of the International Space Station U.S. National Lab Education Subcommittee and serves on the National Girls’ Collaborative Champions Board.

This week on Mother Up, we’re unlocking the secret to boosting confidence through mentorship with the incredible Illana Raia, CEO of Être. Illana shares how the right mentors can bridge the “confidence gap,” especially for girls navigating life’s challenges.

We also get real about Illana’s journey, from her high-powered career as a lawyer to the unexpected twists of motherhood. Transitioning between these two worlds wasn't easy, and finding the right support system made all the difference.

This week on Mother Up, we’re unlocking the secret to boosting confidence through mentorship with the incredible Illana Raia, CEO of Être. Illana shares how the right mentors can bridge the “confidence gap,” especially for girls navigating life’s challenges.

We also get real about Illana’s journey, from her high-powered career as a lawyer to the unexpected twists of motherhood. Transitioning between these two worlds wasn't easy, and finding the right support system made all the difference.

“Empowered” is out, and “inpowered” is in, according to The Female Quotient, an experience and media company advancing gender equality in the workplace.

The FQ teamed up with mentorship ecosystem Être, which matches girls with women in leadership roles, on “iamINPOWERED,” a print and digital campaign kicking off Thursday.

“iamINPOWERED” will be featured in The Guardian US and The New York Times, with outdoor media companies Clear Channel Outdoor and Outfront Media bringing it to billboards in New York’s Times Square.

The Female Quotient (The FQ), an experience and media company advancing gender equality in the workplace, today is launching a new social awareness campaign featuring girls from 10–17 years old proclaiming they have the power to be in the career they want when they grow up. This is in collaboration with Être, a mentorship ecosystem closing the confidence gap by bringing girls directly into companies and face to face with female leaders. An F1 driver, a Supreme Court justice, a CEO, and an Olympic medalist are some of the variety of careers the girls not only want, but understand they have the power from within to be. The #iamINPOWERED print and digital campaign debuts on October 10 followed by print and digital media beginning on October 11, International Day of the Girl.

In this episode of the Women in Leadership Talk podcast, host Vicki Bradley sits down with Illana Raia, a former corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur and founder of Être Girls. Illana shares her journey from the legal world to launching a groundbreaking organization that helps young women gain confidence and envision their futures by connecting them with female role models from leading companies like Spotify, the United Nations, and NASDAQ.

Illana explains how Être, meaning "to be" in French, encourages girls as young as 10 to ask, "Who do I want to be?" rather than "What do I want to be?" Through mentoring, hands-on experiences, and inspirational conversations with industry leaders, Être provides girls with opportunities to engage with women from all fields, giving them the confidence to see themselves in those roles.

Join us in the #EqualityLounge at #AWNewYork24 as we unveil The FQ’s International Day of the Girl campaign, featuring powerhouse girls from Etre, ages 10-17. Together, we will discuss how mentorship changes lives and builds confidence and the magic that happens when we come together to share and pair our collective power. Hear from girls who have the power to be everything from an F1 driver to a financial titan and more. Learn how exposure to boardrooms across industries has changed their lives.

Illana chats to Stephanie about why mentors matter for girls and how she began Être, a mentorship platform for girls. Believing that mentors matter as early as middle school, Illana brings girls directly into companies they select to meet female leaders face to face.

They've done the research and the stats are in fact staggering! Mentors matter as early as middle school because that’s precisely when girls’ confidence can falter. Were you aware that between the ages of 13 and 18 girls' confidence drops by 20%? Or that by the age of 14 girls drop their sport at 2X the rate of boys? Or that the sharpest fall-off of girls in computer science remains between 13 and 17? These are just a few data-driven facts Être shares and it's no wonder we need mentors early on in life. Watch until the end as Illana shares her story, top tips, challenges, and more. We would love to hear from you, did you have a mentor when you were starting out and how did they impact your confidence in the workplace?

We recently connected with Illana Raia and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Illana , we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

I developed my confidence and self-esteem largely thanks to the incredible women who’ve been part of my life. My grandmother, for instance, graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1936—a remarkable achievement, especially for a woman at that time. Her determination and pioneering spirit left a lasting impression on me.

Young business leaders often encounter challenges early on in their entrepreneurial journey. Without access to adequate resources for knowledge or guidance, it can be difficult to overcome these obstacles alone.

From industry-specific programs and online platforms to in-person events, there are a number of easily available resources newer entrepreneurs can tap into to ensure they are knowledgeable and able to run their businesses with minimal interruption. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members each share additional resources they recommend young entrepreneurs look into for mentorship or advice.

One of the biggest aha! moments of Illana Raia’s life came quite unexpectedly.

As a corporate lawyer in New York City, Raia realized one day that her middle school-age daughter not only had no idea what she actually did, but she also was completely unaware of what her mother’s super-accomplished women friends did.

“It was a stunning revelation, honestly,” Raia said. “These very accomplished friends were CEOs, TV news anchors, doctors and more. They did amazing things and yet somehow my daughter had no idea who these women really were. So, I took her to see what they did.”

Through the experience with her daughter, Raia realized the importance of providing opportunities to interact with businesswomen, to ask questions and to learn firsthand from other accomplished women. What began as a mother's concern for her daughter's future blossomed into a global movement called Être — French for “to be” — designed to inspire young girls to dream big through mentorship opportunities.