About Dare to Dream

grace shafirFounder

Grace Shafir is the mother of five daughters. It troubled her that when girls reach middle school, many ignore their minds and become defined by their appeal to boys. As a widowed mother, she knew first hand about the need to be able to support your children. At a national education board meeting, she began thinking of positive role models for girls who were not rock stars or celebrities. Dare to Dream was to be one school assembly and would take six weeks. That was more than 10 years ago. Today she has interviewed more than 200 outstanding women from all walks of life. The one thing that they all have in common: the ability to dream and to go for their dreams.

Grace attributes her success to her refusal to believe that there is anything she can’t do—which often leads to building partnerships for a solution.

Our Mission

If you can dream it, you can be it. Our original mission was to imbue girls with a sense they can be anything they want to be. The message: dream, persevere, believe in yourself.
Today we have expanded our dream to focuses on issues that are important to the world and in our communities: pregnant and parenting teens, wheelchair athletes, protecting the environment and our oceans, and childhood obesity.

We have just completed a three-year study of teen mothers and their challenges. Our newest project takes us to the Galapagos to examine the ocean and learn how a healthy ocean is essential for life. We are creating a new healthy cooking show for kids. Who knows what the future will bring?