A New Year, A Clear Choice: The True Cost of Investing or Not Investing in Our Girls
By Dr. Altreisha Foster PhD MPH
Founder & President, Cake Therapy Foundation
Empowering girls through the therapeutic art of baking.
www.altreishafoster.com
January invites us to pause.
It’s a month that holds both reflection and resolve, a moment to look back at what we’ve carried, and forward toward what we are willing to build. At Cake Therapy Foundation, we step into this New Year grounded in gratitude and guided by clarity.
We are grateful for the girls who trusted us with their hands, their hearts, and their stories. For the educators and school leaders who opened their classrooms and kitchens. For the community partners who said yes, sometimes before they had all the answers because they believed our girls deserved more than survival.
But the New Year is not only about hope.
It is also about choices. And one of the most urgent choices before us at the family, community, and systems level is whether we will meaningfully invest in girls, or continue to absorb the long-term cost of not doing so.
The Opportunity Cost We Rarely Name
In economics, opportunity cost is the value of what is lost when one option is chosen over another. When it comes to girls especially girls from historically under-resourced communities the opportunity cost of inaction is profound, measurable, and generational.
When we do not invest in programs intentionally designed for girls, we lose:
- Confidence before it has a chance to root
- Leadership skills that go unnamed and unsupported
- Vocational pathways that remain invisible
- Emotional regulation tools that prevent disengagement and burnout
- Early exposure to entrepreneurship, creativity, and ownership
Too often, girls are expected to succeed inside systems that were never designed with their realities in mind. They are asked to adapt, to be resilient, to “figure it out” without the tools, mentorship, or space to do so safely.
Generic youth programming is not enough.
One-size-fits-all solutions do not fit girls particularly girls navigating gender bias, racial inequities, trauma, poverty, cultural expectations, or caregiving responsibilities at a young age.
What Happens When Girls Are Centered
At Cake Therapy Foundation, we see a different story unfold when girls are placed at the center not as an afterthought, but as the intended outcome.
Through our school-embedded and community-based programs, girls learn culinary and vocational skills while also learning how to:
- Trust themselves
- Work collaboratively
- Name and regulate emotions
- See creativity as a viable pathway, not a side hobby
- Understand their labor as valuable
Since 2023, Cake Therapy Foundation has served over 100 girls across Minnesota, partnering with schools and community organizations. In 2024 alone, we worked with 48 girls in school-based programs, and in 2025 we expanded to include high school-aged students preparing for workforce readiness.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. In their own words:
– “When I bake here, I feel calm. I don’t feel like I have to be perfect I can just be me.”
– “I didn’t know baking could be a job. Now I want to have my own business.”
– “This is the first time I felt good at something in school.”
Cake Therapy Participants
These moments matter. They are early interventions that shape how girls see themselves and what they believe is possible.
Why Vocational Programs for Girls Matter. Especially in Schools and Communities
Vocational, skill-based programming embedded directly in schools, community centers, and after-school spaces does more than teach a technical skill. It builds agency.
When girls learn practical, hands-on skills whether in culinary arts, trades, technology, or creative industries they gain:
- A relationship to money and entrepreneurship
- Confidence rooted in mastery
- Emotional regulation through tactile learning
- Exposure to careers they may never have considered
These programs work best when they are:
- Gender-responsive
- Culturally informed
- Long-term, not one-off experiences
Girls should not have to leave their communities to access opportunity. Opportunity should be embedded where they already are.
The Cost of Not Investing Is Higher Than We Admit
When we fail to invest in girls early, we pay later, through:
- Increased disengagement from school
- Lower workforce participation
- Higher rates of burnout and mental health challenges
- Missed leadership potential
The opportunity cost of not supporting girl-centered vocational and therapeutic programming is not abstract. It shows up in classrooms, workplaces, healthcare systems, and communities every day.
A January Call to Action
As we begin this New Year, we invite our supporters, partners, and funders to sit with a simple but powerful question:
What does it truly cost us when we don’t invest in our girls?
This January, Cake Therapy Foundation is focused on securing the resources needed to:
- Expand school-based programming
- Sustain community partnerships
- Provide vocational pathways for more girls
- Ensure that healing, creativity, and skill-building remain accessible not exclusive
Every dollar invested helps us place tools directly into girls’ hands tools they will carry for a lifetime.
At Cake Therapy Foundation, we believe that when girls are supported early, intentionally, and consistently, the return on investment is undeniable:
- Girls who believe in themselves
- Girls who see leadership as possible
- Girls who are equipped – not just inspired
This year, let’s choose intention over indifference!
Let’s choose investment over inertia!
Let’s choose our girls!
Leave a comment