Celebrating Women's History Month at CORRAL
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the impact women have made across generations. At CORRAL Riding Academy, that celebration is woven into our everyday work. As a woman-founded and woman-led organization, we see firsthand how powerful it is for girls to grow up surrounded by strong women who believe in them.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, we asked members of our staff to reflect on their experiences working with the girls we serve, why representation matters, what inspires them about our participants, and what empowering girls truly means.
Their reflections remind us that empowerment doesn’t come from a single moment. It grows from everyday interactions, leadership, and relationships that we strive to build at CORRAL.
Why Representation Matters
Moments of representation happen in big ways and small ones.
Sometimes it looks like a young woman confidently driving a tractor across the farm or using power tools during a construction project. When girls see women doing work that society often labels as “men’s work,” it expands their sense of what’s possible.
Other moments happen during experiences like college tours. On one visit to a historically Black college, a participant’s family member led the tour. Watching someone from her own community confidently guide the group through campus was powerful. The girls leaned in and listened, proud and inspired by what they saw.
Representation also shows up in the relationships they witness every day. Before the girls even arrive on the farm, staff are often working together, supporting one another, laughing, solving problems, and preparing for the day. When the girls arrive, they step into that environment and see something that many young people rarely experience: healthy, supportive relationships between adults.
Those moments matter. They show girls what respect, collaboration, and trust can look like.
Women Who Lead by Example
At CORRAL, our staff demonstrates strength and leadership in ways that leave lasting impressions on the girls we serve.
One staff member is also a member of the National Guard and was deployed to western North Carolina after last year’s hurricane and flooding. When the girls learned she works in an armory handling weapons, they were stunned in the best way. Their understanding of women’s roles in the armed services suddenly expanded.
Another staff member shows the girls daily that farm work isn’t limited by gender. Whether she’s confidently handling horses in the arena, maneuvering a tractor, or driving posts into the ground, she models grit and determination. She reminds the girls that it’s okay to get their hands dirty.
In school meetings, another staff member demonstrates something equally powerful: advocacy. She shows girls and their families how to ask hard questions, push for answers, and stand up for themselves with confidence and grace. In systems where many of our girls are often misunderstood or underestimated, that example is invaluable.
These moments are simply women living their values and inviting girls to imagine themselves doing the same.
The Strength We See in CORRAL Girls
While our staff inspire the girls, the truth is that the girls inspire us just as much.
The CORRAL girls' strength and resilience are extremely inspiring to me. Trauma and the difficulties in their lives have knocked them down so many times, but they refuse to stay down. With our support, they get up again and keep pushing forward. I wish that a program like CORRAL existed when I was their age because I didn't find those strengths in myself until I reached adulthood.
They show up even on the hard days. They show up when they’re asked to try something new or face something uncomfortable. They show up and allow themselves to be seen while sharing emotions, asking questions, and building relationships.
That takes courage.
Our staff also sees a generation of young women who are deeply thoughtful and self-aware. They ask hard questions, reflect on their experiences, and want to be part of creating change in the world around them. Watching them grow is one of the greatest privileges of this work.
Restoring Power
When we talk about empowering girls, we often talk about restoring power.
Many of the young people we serve have had their sense of agency taken away by trauma or systems that failed to support them. At CORRAL, we work to restore that power and help girls build the confidence and skills they need to shape their own futures.
Empowerment can look like many things:
- Finding the courage to try and fail and try again.
- Discovering their voice and learning to use it.
- Setting goals and believing they are possible.
- Building community and learning that they don’t have to face challenges alone.
Most importantly, empowerment means creating a space where girls can show up exactly as they are and know they belong.
The Women Who Make It Possible
None of this work would be possible without the dedicated women who make up the CORRAL team.
Their leadership, compassion, and persistence shape the culture of this organization. They problem-solve, advocate, mentor, and encourage. Just like the girls they support, they continue to grow, learn, and push forward.
When girls see women leading, building, advocating, and caring for one another, something powerful happens: they begin to imagine themselves doing the same.
This Women’s History Month, we celebrate the women who make this work possible and the girls who inspire us every day.
