To Learn More About Our Program
To Learn More About Our Founder
To Learn More About Our Team
Mission:
Educate, inspire and empower girls through family partnerships to value themselves, build a community of sisterhood and be bold leaders.
Vision:
Each girl will build the confidence, leadership skills, self-worth and tenacity to reach her full potential becoming a change maker in her community.
Purpose:
Believe any girl can LEAP and achieve greatness if she is encouraged to be inspired and empowered to grow, knowing her family is being supported.
Gabriela Edon
Our Founder
Gabriela's love and passion for girl's education and empowerment has inspired her to launch Girls LEAP Mentoring program. Her main objective is to educate, inspire and empower girls to be bold leaders and change makers. She believes education is the most powerful tool to alleviate poverty and that investing in girls/women can result in positive changes in communities.
Gabriela has over fifteen years of experience in the field of Banking/Finance performing financial management and analysis. She holds an MBA degree in Finance and a BS in Business Administration with a minor in Economics. She loves to help others by volunteering her time to mentor children and serve in soup kitchens. She speaks five languages and loves to travel, read, bike, cook, dance and learn new things. She is married with three wonderful children.
Our Team
Tia Jackson
Tia is a nationally-licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) with a history of work in pediatric hospitals, educational, and private practice settings. Her experiences for 11 years as an SLP involved assessment and therapy interventions targeting Developmental Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Articulation/speech disorders, Dyslexia/Literacy, Language, Neurocognition/Executive Functions and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
Currently, her work focuses on her high interest area of language & literacy development and the research bases of quality reading instruction. Tia strongly believes that the current low literacy rates in the U.S., especially in underrepresented/underprivileged populations reflect an equity issue that needs urgent attention. Her daily motivation for working with young people involves addressing this problem directly through assessment and intervention. In addition, her role is to develop systems to create school-level change, to support fellow educators, and create awareness for parents to understand how critical proficient literacy skills are for reducing the “school to prison pipeline” for black, brown, and economically-disadvantaged people.
During Tia’s 20+ years in education, her experiences include teaching English internationally (Japan and Spain), working in academia in cognitive science research, and early childhood teaching. She received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees from The Ohio State University.
Monique Roger, CPA, MBA
Monique is a graduate of the University of Dayton. She has been working in corporate accounting for about 10 years now. Monique is active in the Ohio Society of CPAs and is a former President of the NABA Columbus Professional Chapter. Monique is passionate about helping others, especially the youth. She enjoys traveling, baking, dancing, and spending time with her family. Monique is married to her beloved husband and they have 7 incredible children.
Kayla Scott, QMHS
I am a loving Youth Mentor, Sister, Aunt, Daughter and Friend. I studied Psychology at Kent State University, and transferred to Columbus State Community College where I received my Associates of Arts and Sciences. I am a Qualified Mental Health Specialist at St. Vincent family Center. I also enjoy my saturday afternoons with my 3 beautiful mentees through Girls L.E.A.P! I have been involved in many programs revolved around the professional development and parental involvement in the lives of the youth in my community. I am passionate about working with young adults and children and creating a safe place for them to learn and grow in. Other things that interest me are learning more about trauma in children, going on walks at the scioto mile, eating tacos and spending time with my niece and nephew!
Mtandazo (Mandy) Mandebvu
Mtandazo Mandebvu is a passionate Direct Support Professional Supervisor who works at Columbus Center for Human Services. She currently volunteers as a mentor and community integration coordinator with Girls Leap Columbus. She also sits on the Ohio Alliance of Direct Support Professionals Supervisor Council. Her everyday goal is to improve the quality of life for every individual that she touches by initiating and involving them in a variety of community integration activities, positive interactions, and healthy life-styles. Mtandazo worked as a High School Teacher for 8 years and learned a lot from that experience and it propelled her into the human service field where she is changing lives every single day.
She is a holder of Advanced Certificates in Developmental Disabilities, Mental Health, and Addiction Studies obtained from Columbus State Community College, Columbus, Ohio. She has a Master of Science in Human Services Management degree awarded by Franklin University - Columbus, Ohio. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Zimbabwe.
Her favorite quote is: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” - Maya Angelou