Want to know how teenagers are handling COVID-19? Hear what these 5 young women from Être, a resource and mentorship platform for middle and high school girls, have to say about what they’re worried about, how they’ve spent the last six months, and what they’ve learned about themselves. Here's what teenagers want you to know about what they're doing.

“More than that, she didn’t know what any of my friends did, and they had some of the coolest jobs ever! Surgeons, CEOs, writers and Wall Street wizards – she didn’t see them in their element,” says Raia. “So when she was in middle school I started taking her to see where they worked, and she loved it. The whole time we were doing this, I kept thinking girls everywhere should be doing this.”

Adrienne’s guest is Illana Raia, the CEO and founder of the organization Être Girls - a mentorship program and platform that connects professional women with school age girls. Her work helping and mentoring middle school and high school girls is both incredible and inspiring, as is Illana Raia! Her work connecting female mentors in large and small corporations all around the country with girls gives them an amazing opportunity to ask questions, to learn about certain professions, and to seek out role models so that they can become exactly who they want to be.

Être, when we were only 6 weeks old, participating in the HuffPost #TalkToMe video series! Board members ask Être founder about motivation, making a difference and why mentors matter...as early as middle school.

Illana Raia is the founder of Être Girls. ‘Who exactly do you want to be?’ – Être Girls, a knowledge strategy and a resource and mentorship platform for girls approaching high school. Do your children know much about your career? Do they think of you as the cook, driver, cleaner, supplier of your clothes and other various items? When Illana realized that her daughter had no clear idea of what she actually did or that the women who she was around were accomplished women in their own right, Illana decided she wanted to change that. Illana was determined to make sure that young girls knew that there are many options to choose from. And so, the beginnings of Être Girls.

Raise your hand. Don't lower your standards. That's the message from this week's guest Illana Raia, an attorney who left the profession to start her own company that aims to inspire middle school girls to stick with their creative passions and transform them into careers in the future.

Each week, an accomplished published author takes over the YEM Twitter account for Thursday’s Twitter Takeover. Each week, the YA author will answer questions, tell stories, and give advice on our social media. This week author Illana Raia will be taking over our Twitter account.

Key Takeaways:

- Être means "To Be" in French, and the goal of this movement is to help today's girls figure out who they want to be.

- By bringing girls directly into companies to meet strong female leaders face to face, they meet role models at an early - and crucial - age.

- Middle school is not too early to talk with girls about big topics like financial confidence, female mentorship, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. In fact, it's exactly the right time.

- Illana wants "Every girl to raise her hand instead of lowering her standards.”

lllana started her career as a lawyer at one of the world’s top law firms. When her daughter was little, she began introducing her to other moms who, like Illana, had great careers and served as amazing role models. This was her way of teaching her daughter that she could be anything she wanted to be. This experience inspired Illana to found Être in 2016. Être is an organization and website that gives girls the tools they need to change the world. Illana’s book was released on the Day of the Girl, October 11, 2019 and was Amazon’s number one new release in Self Esteem Books for Teens and Young Adults!

When developing the future female leaders of tomorrow, it’s so important for them to be aware of the female leaders that are impacting the world right now. Today’s Finding Brave guest was inspired by her own daughter to put female role models in front of girls at an early age, and as she shares, we all have a part to play in this critical movement.