What Is The Shona Project?

The Shona Project is a multi-award-winning non-profit organisation whose aim is to educate, empower and inspire today’s Irish girls to become tomorrow’s strong, confident and curious young women. It was created by girls, for girls, to ensure that every girl in Ireland feels seen, understood, supported and valued. We believe that every girl in Ireland has the potential to achieve her dreams, and live a happy and healthy life, once they are given the tools and the encouragement.

The Junior Ambassador Programme

We launched our Junior Ambassador programme in September 2022 and are excited to see it continue to grow! We are inviting schools to nominate one of your students to join the programme, so we can support them as leaders who promote kindness, positivity, inclusion and resilience within their schools. Our aim is to have a Junior Ambassador in every school in Ireland by 2025.

What does a Junior Ambassador do?

Junior Ambassadors will be nominated by their schools because they believe that she is a leader who is kind, inclusive, motivated, trustworthy and confident in her ability to win over even her quietest classmate. We welcome nominations from 4th, 5th and 6th years for 2023/24.

Here’s what we ask of our ambassadors:

• Welcome the incoming first years in their school, tell them about the importance of kindness and inclusivity in the school, and instil the values that both Shona and the school believe in (we provide a short speech for them to give, with our support and the support of their teachers).
• Spread awareness of Shona’s online resources and highlight competitions and other initiatives throughout the year.
• Attend monthly online meet-ups where they will meet brilliant role models, and discuss the issues which are important to them.
• Engage with peers regularly via our WhatsApp Group.
• Get involved in idea generation for everything Shona related, including writing articles, creating content and developing creative projects.
• Initiate, plan and fulfil at least one Shona Project Programme during the 2023/2024 Academic Year. They could assist in arranging for us to come in to facilitate a workshop, have Transition Years attend SHINE Festival or get creative with our Safe Bathrooms challenge. 

What does a Junior Ambassador get in return?

• An invitation to monthly/virtual meet-ups to form connections and talk about what is going on in the lives of teenagers. The meet-ups will also be attended by our network of positive role models and leaders; and will cover topics such as leadership, social activism, confidence, teamwork etc.
• Spread kindness and positivity amongst peers.
• Make new friends.
• Each Junior Ambassador will be positively supported by a Senior Ambassador and by our ambassador co-ordinator.
• Opportunities to get involved in different and exciting events/projects run by our team, such as Shine Festival and our annual Shona Summit.
• Access to our growing network of mentors if they have questions related to career, subject choice, and other life questions.
• References and help when applying for jobs, courses and internships.
• Experience growth in their communication skills, enhance their natural ability to lead and embrace the opportunity to network with those from different backgrounds.
• The opportunity to be part of a movement creating huge positive change in Ireland and to play a part in creating the world they want to live in.
• When their time in school ends, our Jambos can apply to continue their journey with us as Senior Ambassadors (Sambos).

They Will Also Get…

A Free Shona Goodie Pack, that is jam packed full of useful information and merchandise that can be used to promote The Shona Project in schools.

How to get involved…

As a school, you can decide how you would like the Jambo to be selected. This could be simply selecting a student whom you think is perfect for the role or putting a call out to a year group for nominees and conducting short interviews to choose the candidate. Selection is entirely up to school staff as we cherish and trust that you know your community of girls best! Teachers and school management can nominate a Junior Ambassador at the link below.

Nominate Your School’s Junior Ambassador Here!

But, don’t just take our word for it, here’s what Fatima, a 5th year Jambo from Cork:

Permission from a parent/guardian will be required to add Junior Ambassadors to certain social media groups and communications channels.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Education Manager, Natasha, at natasha@shona.ie