About the DC Girls’ Coalition

Mission

DC Girls’ Coalition (DCGC) works to elevate and amplify the voices of young women, girls, femmes, non-conforming and young women/girls of color of trans experience in the District of Columbia. DCGC, comprised of  youth-serving and advocacy organizations, adopts and fights to implement policy recommendations that centers their leadership and addresses their needs. 

Vision

DCGC believe that in order to generate solutions that are affirming for all girls, including non-conforming, young women and girls of trans experience, we must see them as they are: multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and dynamic.

We envision a city in which youth within these groups are at the table identifying solutions that will work for the issues they face every day. The DCGC strives to reduce the criminalization and adultification of girls of color, by uplifting girls as leaders and building a network of organizations dedicated to advocating with youth of color and adopting policies and practices that center around their needs.

Our work is driven by our youth-led Leadership Board, pictured below. Read more about our youth leaders, values and Youth Action Network leadership structure here.

Values’

  • Youth Centered

    • Centering the youth voice in all aspects of the work. Ensuring that youth are guiding the work of the collective coalition. Uplifting the voices of youth with lived experiences by creating  result-based action steps for issues they face.  Allowing the mission and vision of the coalition to guide the work of each member which at its foundation is youth driven work. Making sure that all our outcomes are reflective of the diverse backgrounds and experiences youth of color by rooting their voices in our work. Serving as adult support arm for youth power and action. 

  • Inclusive Leadership

    • Ensuring that decisions are made in an inclusive, community-based environment. Upholding the importance of collective responsibility by ensuring that roles, expectations and outcomes are clear and transparent for all members. Creating an open space space in which all worldviews are respected, considered, and welcomed while, understanding and highlighting the voices of youth of color in marginalized communities specifically. Practicing active and intentional forms of listening and sharing information. 

  • Honesty

    • Displaying a true and authentic version of one’s self and organizations. Showing integrity, empathy, and respect for other  opinions while also expressing your own. Being transparent about the viewpoint you represent both individually and for an organizations. Sharing openly your connection with youth of color and work you are doing with them. 

  • Accountability

    • Acting with intentions that are clear and easily recognizable. Acknowledging the intersection of various experiences and how they might impact one's view towards certain outcomes. Willingness to receive feedback and complete assigned tasks. Accepting responsibility for actions, statements, and creating a productive and inclusive space for members as well as youth of color. 

  • Intersectionality

    • It is our obligation to always center the most marginalized group in our work. It is our commitment to always work at the intersection of race and gender identity.

Youth Advisory Board

Arayah Shelton

Nahema Konate

MaKaila Eddings

Amiyrah Payne

Janiah Barnes

Aaliyah Payne

Star Short

Veda Lampkin

Staff

  • Kristi Matthews-Jones, Director

    Kristi Matthews is the Director of the DC Girls’ Coalition, which works to support young and transgender girls of color, and gender non-conforming people of color to advocate for issues impacting them. She previously worked at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless for almost 15 years as their Grassroot Advocacy Coordinator, where she worked with people who are experiencing poverty in various ways. She worked at the Fair Budget Coalition as their Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator. She served as a Lead Instructor for Black Swan Academy. She attended Guilford College, where she earned two degrees in Community Justice and Psychology and served as a Bonner Scholar. She was the Service Coordinator for Glenhaven Multicultural After-school Tutorial program. She also co-found DUET, which provides training, strategic, and organizational support to groups wanting to dismantle oppression. She holds two Masters Degrees from Walden University in Social Psychology and Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

  • Jaqui Santos-Castillo, Youth Organizer

    Jaquelin Santos-Castillo was born and raised in Washington D.C and lives in Ward 1. She graduated from Benjamin Banneker High School and graduated from The Catholic University of America in May 2024. She is a founder member of the Youth Advisory Board with the DC Girls Coalition. She decided to join the DCGC because she heard it was a coalition of women of color, like herself, that had the goal to improve DC systems and improve youth's rights. She believes in the importance of valuing youth's voices, needs, and concerns as they are the future. She became the Youth Ambassador after graduating from the YAB, and in the summer of 2022 she became the Youth Organizer.

  • Ayoka, Youth Ambassador

    Ayoka Miller-Aganyemi was born and raised in DC and resides in ward 8. She attends Bard High School Early College DC, she will be earning my HS diploma and Associates degree in Liberal Arts June of 2025. She currently graduated from the Youth Advisory Board and is now the Youth Ambassador. Her experience with DC Girls Coalition has been life changing. She learned that her voice, as well as other youth has an impact to acknowledge and change issues. She learned how to write testimonies and lead large groups of people over the years at DC Girls Coalition. She decided to further her stay because those skills she developed will help someone that was as inexperienced as she was when she joined. And she wants all schools and communities to continue to better for the future generations to come.