Our mission
Concrete Queenz is a nonprofit that brings skateboarding and community to underserved girls in South LA through after school skateboarding programming, trips to local skateparks and collaborations with other organizations for workshops on college, career, and life. As the first and only free school based programming for girls in the country, we believe that skateboarding can be a powerful tool for empowering girls to be strong, independent, and confident. Our mission is to create a safe and inclusive space for girls to learn and practice skateboarding, while also building valuable life skills such as leadership, teamwork, and communication.
Our History
Concrete Queenz originated as an educator-led initiative, evolving from a club with 12 participants into a dynamic nonprofit spanning three school sites, engaging 75 participants. Our Founder and Executive Director was a teacher for 7 years with Green Dot Public Schools, and taught at two of the campuses where we currently run programming. She started Concrete Queenz while she was still teaching because of the lack of access to sports and safe places for girls to play. Two of our school sites do not offer physical education classes, and our other school requires students to test out of double math in order to receive physical education classes.
Because of the overwhelming amount of interest Concrete Queenz received from the school community, our Founder quit her job as a teacher, and filed for nonprofit status. We currently have a contract with Green Dot Public Schools to operate our program after school on school campuses.
Since operating as a nonprofit, we have received grants from the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, the Aerie Real Foundation, Champion, Skate Like A Girl, Nike, the Play Equity Fund, the Women’s Sports Foundation, and the Annenberg Foundation to help support our sustainability and expansion.
Features
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Concrete Queenz x Spectrum News
'Concrete Queenz' teaches South LA girls more than skateboarding
COMPTON, Calif. — When the clock strikes 2:45 p.m. on Thursdays, it means one thing for seventh grader Hidayah Meadows — it’s time to rule the blacktop atop of a skateboard.
“When you’re skating, you’re feeling the wind on your face,” said Meadows. “You don’t think about anything else expect how good you want to be in the future.”
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Concrete Queenz x With it Girl Feature
Concrete Queenz is a nonprofit organization founded by a former teacher from Baltimore who was inspired by her experience teaching in South Los Angeles schools. What started in Spring 2022 as an after-school skateboarding club with just 12 participants has rapidly grown into a full-fledged program…
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Concrete Queenz Impala Skate Feature
To mark International Women’s Day, we reached out to the crew at Concrete Queenz to hear more about how they empower young girls to learn to skateboard in a safe and inclusive space.
The founder, Audrey Faison, who’s been an Education Specialist for 7 years, gave us the low down on how Concrete Queenz came to be. We even see what the girls say about learning to skateboard!
Here's the story...