Être means “to be.” So, for Illana Raia, Être Girls was the perfect name for a resource for middle and high school. Être Girls uses mentorship to teach girls across the country to be informed, smart, brave, charitable, happy, strong, brave, strong, connected, wise, innovative and well-read. It’s ultimately helping young girls answer the question, who exactly do you want to be?

We got together with Illana to find out more about Être Girls and how middle and high school girls in Stamford can get involved!

Launched 24 months ago with curated links & role model quotes for middle school girls, Être expands with after-school mentorship clubs, on-site Lunch & Learns with female execs and an all-girl Board.

A series of relevant and refreshingly candid interviews featuring inspiring and accomplished women talking about work-life balance. I’ve always been curious about how women I admire manage the tragically glorified “doing it all” craze. So I asked them. As I suspected, no one really does “it all.” Everyone’s making sacrifices somewhere. And that should make us all feel a little better. I hope the conversation will be steered toward that reality rather than toward the flawed and dangerous assumption that we should try—or even want to try—to perfectly do “it all.”

When Illana’s daughter was in grade school, she emailed some girlfriends and asked if they would take part in a one-day “girls summit” at her home. She pictured her daughter and her friends gaining wisdom from accomplished women – writers, surgeons, CEOs, designers, attorneys, news anchors. This idea lead to the founding of Être , a place girls can go to help them find their own path in life, and what they want “to be.”

Mentorship always played an important role in Illana Raia’s career. As a young lawyer, Raia worked in mergers and acquisitions at Skadden Arps.

Meet Illiana Raia, lawyer, lecturer and founder of ‘Être’ – a site and movement providing resources to girls helping to build their confidence and futures.