Correctional Facilities
We go where the
need is greatest.
Our flagship digital curriculum has been implemented in 4,000+ correctional facilities nationwide — because transformation doesn’t wait for release day.
About the Program
Each week, participants engage in themed empowerment workshops using guided lessons from the Chin Up! You Got This!™ Confidence Workbook and Affirmation Journal. Every session opens with a video from Shakila Stewart introducing the week’s lesson directly from the curriculum — giving girls a consistent, trusted voice guiding their journey.
Through a blend of creative expression and skill-building, girls develop the confidence to speak up, show up, and pursue opportunities they may have once avoided.
Program Facilitation
Sessions are led by trained mentors using evidence-based, trauma-informed practices grounded in social-emotional learning, leadership development, and confidence-centered career readiness.
Expected Outcomes
- Increased confidence and self-expression
- Improved public speaking and physical presence
- Stronger SEL skills and emotional awareness
- Career-ready tools including professional headshots, interviewing skills, and social media etiquette
- Girls who know their value before the world gets a chance to tell them otherwise
Schools & Youth
Every girl deserves to know
She’s of great value.
About the Program
The One Pearl™ Mentoring Program is a 10-week, trauma-informed social-emotional learning and career readiness experience designed for middle school, high school, and college-aged girls. The One Pearl represents a powerful reminder that each girl is of great value.
Just as a pearl is formed through pressure and time, our participants learn that their experiences do not diminish their worth, they shape their strength.
15 Sessions — Drawn From the Memoir
Every session in the One Pearl™ program comes directly from Shakila Stewart’s memoir Chin Up! You Got This! — the same chapters, the same lived experiences, reframed as empowerment curriculum for teen girls. Sessions cover self-worth, resilience, identity, peer pressure, grief, leadership, courage, and purpose.
Session 1 opens with Shakila’s own story — from foster care and having an incarcerated parent, to first-generation college graduate, Windy City Live, the Steve Harvey Show, meeting Spike Lee, moving from Chicago to LA, and adopting her brother.
In the very first session, girls see proof that they can make it through anything.
An eBook version of the memoir is available for programs that choose to incorporate it. For public schools, the curriculum delivers the same lessons in universal, non-faith-specific language so every girl can access the material.
Full session titles and curriculum details are provided upon execution of a licensing agreement.
Weekly Topics
Self-Esteem, Self-Love & Self-Worth
Building an unshakeable internal foundation before the world gets a chance to define them.
Peer Pressure & Bullying
Tools to navigate social dynamics with confidence and discernment.
Grief & Emotional Resilience
Honest, age-appropriate conversations about loss, change, and bouncing forward.
Goal-Setting & Personal Vision
Helping girls see a future for themselves and take the first step toward it.
Confidence, Identity & Leadership
Defining who they are on their own terms — and owning it.
Skill Development & Career Readiness
Participants build confidence and leadership through hands-on, creative skill-building:
- Affirmations | daily practice of positive self-talk that rewires how girls see themselves
- Posture, Presence & Personality Development | the physical and interpersonal skills of commanding a room
- Acting & Creative Dance | expression through movement and performance
- Runway Coaching & Performance Training | confidence made visible
- Public Speaking Skills | finding and using their voice in real situations
The Student Showcase
The program culminates in a Student Showcase — a celebration of each girl’s growth. Participants present original skits highlighting real issues teen girls care about, followed by a runway walk that demonstrates their transformation in posture, presence, and personality. It is a moment of pride for the girls, their families, and their schools.
What Each Participant Receives
- One Pearl™ necklace | a symbolic reminder of her value, earned at program completion
- Certificate of Completion | presented at their graduation ceremony
- Professional headshot | to support future academic and career opportunities
- Chin Up!™ t-shirt | worn with pride
- Chin Up! Workbook & Affirmation Journal | for self-discovery and continued growth
- Chin Up! Tote Bag | for all workshop materials
Corporate & Workforce
Confidence isn’t soft.
It’s the skill behind every skill.
We bring the same evidence-based methodology that transforms lives inside correctional facilities and classrooms into your workplace — because the confidence gap doesn’t stop at the office door.
Who This Is For
Our corporate and workforce programs serve companies, government agencies, and large nonprofits that are serious about women’s advancement — not just in policy, but in practice. We work with organizations where women, especially women of color, are present in large numbers but underrepresented in leadership.
We also partner with workforce development agencies, reentry employment programs, and vocational training providers preparing women for competitive employment. The same confidence gap that shows up in a classroom shows up in a job interview, a boardroom, and a performance review. We address it at the root.
“Your DEI strategy will stall if the women in your pipeline don’t believe they belong at the table. Chin Up! builds that belief — systematically, not symbolically.”
What We Deliver
Our corporate programming is customized to your workforce, your industry, and your goals. We don’t deliver generic workshops. We co-design with your HR, DEI, and L&D teams to ensure the content lands and sticks — from frontline employees to emerging leaders to senior staff.
Professional Presence & Executive Voice
How women present themselves, assert ideas, and command rooms — without shrinking or code-switching. Built for authenticity, not performance.
Confidence Under Pressure
Practical tools for navigating high-stakes environments: difficult conversations, performance reviews, salary negotiations, and visibility moments.
Leadership Identity
Helping women see themselves as leaders before they’ve been given the title — so they’re ready when the opportunity arrives.
Whole-Person Wellness
Emotional regulation, boundaries, and sustainable high performance. We don’t teach women to burn out quietly — we teach them to lead with longevity.
Outcomes We Work Toward
- Measurable increase in women’s self-reported confidence and leadership readiness
- Greater visibility and participation of women in high-stakes meetings and decisions
- Improved retention among women who feel seen, equipped, and invested in
- Stronger pipeline of women ready for promotion — not just eligible for it
- A DEI investment that shows up in behavior, not just headcount
Delivery Options
We offer keynotes, half-day intensives, multi-session cohort programs, and year-long embedded partnerships. Whether you need a one-time engagement that shifts the room or a sustained initiative that changes your culture — we have a model that fits.
All programs are available in-person, virtually, or in hybrid format. We serve organizations across Los Angeles, Chicago, and nationally.
For Funders & Philanthropists
You’re not building this.
You’re scaling it.
Chin Up! You Got This!™ is a nationally proven curriculum already inside 4,000+ facilities. Your investment accelerates what’s already working — at a moment when expansion is both possible and urgent.
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