History
Imagine a 15-year-old who is the victim of sex trafficking, a 12-year-old bullied so severely she wants to drop out of school, or a timid 7-year-old girl afraid to share her voice with others. Many girls in our community don't have to imagine these scenarios. They live them, and they are why Ladies of Favor, Inc. exists. Ladies of Favor, Inc. is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization in Metro Atlanta that helps elementary, middle, and high school girls in embracing spiritual guidance, promote abstinence and purity, increase self-esteem, and build leadership. Ladies of Favor, Inc. was founded on January 19, 2007, by Ms. Gabrielle Starr, a Social Worker with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services, at the tender age of 22.
A vision was birthed inside of her to touch the lives of teenage girls in order to build the image of young ladies and expose them to having a closer relationship with God.
Ladies of Favor provides personal mentoring, group mentoring, tele-mentoring, Parent/Daughter Relationship Development, “Starrific Speaking”, A’Lady Academy Summer Empowerment Program, Scholarships pageants, performing arts, internships, exposure trips and much more. Since the inception, Ladies of Favor has impacted the lives of over 3000 young ladies in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Ladies of Favor began meeting at local libraries and other community centers until a partnership was developed with Clayton County Adolescent Health and Youth Development Center in October 2007. They met faithfully until Ladies of Favor celebrated the opening of a new facility and office space in May 2009 in Jonesboro, GA. Ladies of Favor has been able to sustain financially with the assistance of individual donors, organizations and companies in the community. Ladies of Favor was featured on CNN in April 2010 as an organization tackling the bullying epidemic with teens and highlighted for assisting with the turnaround from deviant behavior.
Shortly thereafter, Ladies of Favor participants were interviewed by producers from Nickelodeon for the Nick News w/Linda Ellerbee Show to share experiences of being bullied. One was chosen to participate in a taping of the show in New York. Ladies of Favor has been recognized in local newspapers, magazines, and television stations such as 11 Alive, We Are Clayton, Clayton News Daily and WIGO 1570 AM to name a few. Ladies of Favor has established partnerships with government organizations such as National Association of Black Social Workers, Clayton County Juvenile Court, Clayton County Department of Family and Children Services,
Clayton County Parks and Recreation, Clayton County Library System, and local colleges and universities, churches, and schools.
Ladies of Favor is being sought for programming suggestions by youth servicing organizations in California, Illinois, Texas, Maryland, Kansas, Arkansas and other states. Success stories include 90% high school graduation rate, decrease in sexual activity, detrimental relationships with parents are restored, self image is thought about more carefully and a closer spiritual connection is sought. Ladies of Favor grew to having as many as 5 sites in 2014, while having participants that performed a combined total of over 130 community service hours, along with a donor-created $10,000 scholarship that was designed for a girl with high scholastic achievement to attend Clayton State University.
As God continues to expand Ladies of Favor, our vision is to reach teens through mentoring, television and radio broadcast, stage plays, clothing lines, magazines, books, establishing centers, homes and much more. Ladies of Favor is on a quest to impact youth internationally and take them to higher levels spiritually, mentally, and socially.
