Rites of Passage and Empowerment

Our Mission

The Rites of Passage and Empowerment program is a local, proven mentoring program for young women of color and young people identifying as female or non-binary.  The mission of ROPE is to celebrate and honor the entry of adolescents into adulthood and provide them with skills and knowledge that they need to be successful, independent and responsible people. It is designed to help participants discover their inner voice and support all components of personal development and personal leadership. 

Our History

Shirley Edgerton founded the R.O.P.E. program in 2010, after recognizing the need for adolescent girls to develop their voice and inner selves in a single-sex, mentorship-based setting. She saw how intentionally providing opportunities to interact with professional women of color could be a way to ease the young women’s transition into adulthood. In the nurturing, supportive and inspiring environment she has created, the girls demonstrate again and again how powerful this simple idea can be.

​The idea grew out of the Youth Alive arts program [hotlink], which has offered the young people of Northern Berkshire County, MA an arts-based enrichment curriculum since 1995.  In conjunction with the Women of Color Giving Circle [hotlink] and the Pittsfield School Department, leadership of the arts program launched a mentoring program geared specifically for the adolescent girls in the area.  

The program for Youth Alive (YA) focuses on STEP dancing as well as performance. YA now performs in the Berkshire Community and is often invited by cultural organizations to share their talents.

​Support for R.O.P.E. graduates also persists after graduation; many of the girls are first-generation college students who face challenges, both financial and social, as they create opportunities for themselves. R.O.P.E. tracks them all the way through school, and upon graduation, help them find the kinds of internship and entry-level positions that will set them up for professional success.

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