Local organization takes day to empower young Chicago girls on International Day of the Girl

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Oct. 11 is recognized as the International Day of the Girl, and one local group used the day to empower young girls on the city's South Side – allowing them to be part of a global conversation.

As CBS 2's Asal Rezaei reported Tuesday, it is a day where simply being a girl is enough to be celebrated. Middle schooler Lyndsey Hollie, 11, is excited to connect with other girls her age.

"My favorite part has been like socializing with all the other people that can relate to me the most," said Lyndsey, a sixth grader at Gary Comer College Prep Middle School in the Grand Crossing neighborhood.

The Girls Like Me Project brings together more than 100 girls annually to celebrate a local and global sisterhood.

"We got to talk about our feelings and our ways of seeing life," said Lyndsey.

In hopes of inspiring more young girls like Lyndsey, the organization has already been pushing the City Council to declare Oct. 11 officially as Chicago Day of the Girl.

"They see that the world is their oyster - not just in their neighborhood, not just in a block, not just in a segregated city," said LaKeisha Gray-Sewell, founder and executive director of the Girls Like Me Project.

The girls get to sit in different sessions – some of them teaching public speaking, while others helping connect them with opportunities, like being a youth diplomat around the world.

"They will have opportunity to win a passport – several of them," Gray-Sewell said. "They will have a chance to have their DNA tested and traced back."

It is not only about empowerment, but exposure to global issues that trickle down to neighborhoods in Chicago – like disparities in education and social injustice.

It is all something that Lyndsey says is helping her gain perspective.

"I see life as like, it can be hard sometimes, but you can change the way you think life and the way you live," she said.

The Chicago Day of the Girl Event did require the girls who participated to be pulled out of school. But Chicago Public Schools officials agreed it would be a critical learning day for many of the girls.