Start a New Program

Start a New Program

The school district agrees to secure financial and community support needed for the program’s effectiveness. Support may come from many sources, including donations from individuals and corporations, funds allocated by the local school board, and grants from community and national foundations. Best Friends programs may be supported by funding for character education, drug prevention, AIDS prevention, and public health grants awarded by state and local governments.

Best Friends programs may operate in public, private, and religious schools. To obtain additional information on the Best Friends and Diamond Girl Leadership programs, contact the Foundation at:

Elayne Bennett
Best Friends Foundation
P.O Box 42135
Washington, DC 20015
Phone: 202.394.4501
Fax: 301.907.8894

Application Procedure Steps

1. Identify an enthusiastic principal of an elementary or middle school to begin the program for a class of sixth grade girls.
   The school principal should know that Best Friends is not a program for only at-risk girls but for all girls. To begin, the Best Friends program should be provided to an entire class of sixth grade girls as part of their school curriculum. If the class has more than 50 girls, the school principal should designate 20-40 participants who represent a cross-section of school students achievers, average and at-risk girls to participate in the program. Parental permission must be received for a girl to participate in the program.
2. Request application information from the Best Friends Foundation. The foundation accepts applications to begin Best Friends programs annually from superintendents of schools and school principals
3. Secure funding to support the program. The school district or private school is responsible for securing financial support to operate their Best Friends program. Support may come from many sources: donations from individuals, funds allocated by the local school boards and municipal alliances, grants from private foundations and corporations and State health, education and drug prevention grants. Permission must be received from the Best Friends Foundation before a Best Friends program may be supported by Federal funds.
4. Apply to the Best Friends Foundation for permission to operate the program. Please contact the foundation for more information about how and when to apply as a new Best Friends Program.
5. Enter into a License and Participation Agreement with the Best Friends Foundation. The Best Friends Foundation grants permission for a school district or private school to operate a Best Friends program through the Best Friends Foundation License and Participation Agreement. The agreement requires that the Best Friends Program be operated according to the program model as specified in the agreement and in curriculum materials published by the Foundation.