Our Roots
Smart Girl, Wise Woman emerged from conversations in Los Angeles, in 2015, with women aged 14 to 60, many of whom expressed a desire for stronger relationships with their mothers. I realized that my own supportive bond with my mother was not the norm, inspiring this platform. We aim to bridge the gap between adolescent rites of passage and traditional women’s circles.
We provide a space for young women aged 14 to 24 to explore their transition into womanhood. Our blog features wisdom from older women sharing their experiences, anonymous voices from younger girls, and stories from young women in our workshops. We are building a community to share happy and sad times, triumphs, failures, compassion, heartache, and the power to overcome life’s challenges.
Tatyanna Wilkinson
Program Developer/Founder
Tatyanna M. Wilkinson is a youth development professional and community health educator with over 25 years of experience empowering young women. She is the founder of Smart Girl, Wise Woman, a cross-cultural empowerment program for girls and young women ages 14-24.
Born to civil rights activist parents, Tatyanna’s life’s work was sparked during her time as a VISTA volunteer in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her career has spanned work at Southwest Community Health Center, LA Free Clinic’s Project A.B.L.E, Girls Inc. of Greater Los Angeles, and W.Y.S.E., a national college women led volunteer organization.
Tatyanna graduates in May 2026 from UMass Amherst with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Youth Development and Community Health Education. She is currently implementing the SGWW cross-cultural curriculum in partnership with Ocean Znanja in Zagreb, Croatia, where she serves as a volunteer program manager.
The Blog
The blog is a place where you can read wisdom from older women, mothers, sisters, grandmothers and friends. Like holiday dinner on the internet with stories full of happy and sad times, triumph, failure, compassion, heartache but most of all the power to overcome and grow from life’s sometimes hard lessons.
Women’s Wisdom – Writing by women over 30 who have generously shared their true, real and often raw stories of their transition to womanhood.
Girl’s Voices – An opportunity for younger girls to express themselves in an anonymous and safe way. They have asked me for this space and I could not resist. Girls/young women ages 12-18 who take the Smart Girl, Wise Woman workshops will get a chance to tell their stories and talk about their experiences as they grow from Chrysalis to Butterfly. Spread your wings! Express yourself.
Flutters – The stories and struggles, hopes and dreams of you, women 18-24, who have a lot to say!
Note: If you have a burning desire to contribute but cannot attend a workshop, I will accept submissions once a month on our monthly topic. Stay tuned. Subscribe to the newsletter to stay informed.
Smart Girl Wise Woman Program in Zagreb, Croatia
SGWW Zagreb is a program for girls ages 14-18 (both Croatian and immigrant young women) that will meet weekly to talk about self-esteem, friendships, media, culture, and leadership. It’s starting in February 2026 with Ocean Znanja Udrugo in Zagreb, Croatia.
Recruitment starts soon.