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Several of my PAL Winners are not only outstanding in their delivery of creative play to build language but also promote healthy models for young girls. I wanted to share a guest post today by my friend, Jodi Norgaard, creator of Go! Go! Sports Girls, a line of  positive-image, age-appropriate dolls that encourage healthy life-skills for girls:

Some entrepreneurial paths bloom into life=long journeys. Sometimes these paths meet, and when they do, strength, wisdom and inspiration flourish. This is what happened to me and four remarkable women. Debbie Sterling of Goldie Blox, Alice Brooks and Bettina Chen of Roominate, Christy Kaskey of Kaskey Kids, and I have created products with the same goal in mind…to create social change, provide solutions, and empower women and girls to appreciate their own uniqueness and not model themselves after the unachievable. As female entrepreneurs creating true alternatives for girls, our goal is to address why there is a need for positive images and products. On Monday, February 11th I will be discussing this and showcasing our girl empowerment toys on Fox and Friends at the 7am hour.
Debbie, a Stanford educated engineer, has created an unique toy, Goldie Blox, to teach basic engineering principles and encourage scientific thinking for girls. Alice and Bettina, MIT, Caltech, and Stanford educated engineers, created Roominate, the DIY wired dollhouse building kit. Their mission is to inspire and build confidence in young girls through hands-on creative play. Christy is the creator of the award-winning line of sports action figures, including Soccer Girls, designed to inspire imaginary and creative play. As many of you know, I am the creator of the award-winning Go! Go! Sports Girls, a line of positive-image, age-appropriate dolls that encourage healthy life-skills for girls.

Our toys empower girls, but as women entrepreneurs/founders we are role models too and we believe our stories will also empower girls as well as women. Toy Fair begins on Sunday and the five of us are ready! Move over Barbie and princesses, it is time for a change and we are ready to make it happen!

Dream Big,
Jodi