An Important Message on COVID-19

Dear GEM Community, 

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GEM was founded on the simple premise that by connecting girls to women for mentorship, these relationships can create lasting social and economic impact. Since 2012, GEM has achieved exactly that, nurturing hundreds of relationships resulting in transformational change for many GEMgirls. The outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic has been particularly hard on all of us as it has disrupted the way by which we connect and build relationships with one another. 

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Since the onset of the pandemic, GEM has been working hard on checking-in with our mentees to assess how they are faring during this crisis, and how the situation will impact their futures. We have also been working towards shifting the way we conduct our work to reframe the way we connect with one another, without the health risks of connecting people together physically.

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Of utmost importance to GEM is the health and safety of our staff, our mentees, mentors, and volunteers. We are fulfilling our responsibilities to them, our communities, our partners, and our society by taking the following measures:
– GEM staff members are working remotely from the safety of their homes, and are collaborating with each other, and partners by phone, video calls or other digital forums; 
– We continue to facilitate our mentorship program, but will do so through physical distancing, using technology such as videoconferencing; 
– We have asked mentors and mentees to restrict their check-ins and meetings to be a telephone call or online video-chat;
– We have cancelled all program events from March to May, with our closing GEMinar session in May to be held online via online videoconferencing;
– All GEM committee meetings or corporate business will be conducted through telephone, or online videoconferencing; and
– We are working to further adapt our program towards a virtual model, ensuring future adaptability.
We will be monitoring the ever-changing developments of the pandemic and will keep you informed and updated if changes are made to any measures above. Until then, we wish you and yours health and wellness as we all make the best of these challenging times together.

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Yours sincerely,