Jackie Zimmerman helped launch Girls With Guts in 2012 with the idea of helping women battling Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Today her side project has turned into her full-time job.
Zimmerman has been working as a contractor for one of the Big Three in recent years while working to establish
Girls With Guts on the side. Last fall the organization grew to the point where she was able to leave her day job to serve as the nonprofit's full-time executive director.
"We had this great problem of having a lot of money but not enough time to do anything with it," Zimmerman says. "We had to make a change of risk losing everything we had built."
Girls With Guts got is start at Wayne State University, where Zimmerman recently graduated from, with the help of
Blackstone LaunchPad. The initial concept was simple: create a haven for women dealing with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It accomplished that by helping educate these women on the basics of managing the disease, finding new solutions to live a healthier life, and sharing information.
One of Girls With Guts' most popular programs is its annual retreat, which attracts dozen of women every year. The nonprofit’s online presence has steadily grown, too. Its
Facebook page had 7,000 likes a little more than a year ago. Today it has more than 10,500.
Zimmerman and her team of volunteers are now working on grant applications to raise more money. They are also working to expand the offerings of Girls With Guts, including planning its fourth annual retreat.
"Our growth plan for 2016 is extensive and will likely grow exponentially the further we get in," Zimmerman wrote in an email. She adds, "We have expanded our programming a lot in the last two months."
Source: Jackie Zimmerman, executive director of Girls With Guts
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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