In a city with few opportunities for girls’ sports, one young woman is working hard to help girls be team players. Dawnn Cleveland is one of the most influential members of the Girls’ Advisory Board, a select group of young women leaders working with Girls in the Game (GIG), an organization that provides physical activity, health education, and leadership development for girls in Chicago. Girls’ Advisory Board (GAB) members attend meetings, lead fitness classes, attend health conferences, participate in service projects, and help GIG staff design programs. Since joining GAB 5 years ago, Dawnn has risen up as a confident team leader, serving as co-president and being an advocate for girls in Chicago. Recognizing the importance of having a strong team, Dawnn initiated a winter retreat for GAB members. The Girls’ Summit was a result of that retreat, and it was one of the most successful GAB projects ever. Dawnn was instrumental in every aspect of the summit from getting a grant, to planning and leading activities, to creating an evaluation tool. During the summit, Dawnn led a workshop on managing stress with confidence and ease. While some of the other GAB members started to lose focus by the end of the day, Dawnn delivered each rotation as if it were the first. She even missed lunch to talk with two girls about bullying. The summit was a complete success thanks to Dawnn. This summer Dawnn was a counselor for 20 girls at GIG’s sports and leadership camp. Going above and beyond, Dawnn helped create a sexual health seminar for campers. Dawnn was also an amazing role model to her group, and was positive and enthusiastic. Even though she’s known for being somewhat clumsy, Dawnn was always the first to try something new and would usually fall while doing it. Her ability to laugh at herself and the confidence she showed when she would get up and try again was contagious to her campers. Dawnn recently left for college and the GIG will miss her terribly. She is one of the first of the GAB girls to go to college and is one of the charter members of the GIG Alum team, a new program GIG started at Dawnn’s request. Before she left for college, Dawnn wrote a grant that will allow GIG to host a workshop on preventing girl-on-girl violence. Through her continuing guidance, ability to lead by example, and overarching confidence, Dawnn will ensure that girls throughout Chicago will have an equal opportunity to be healthy, happy and confident young women.