Four local girls used their day off from school for Martin Luther King Day to travel downtown and spend the day at work. In an event sponsored by the Chicago-based Girls in the Game, the girls had the opportunity to interview Chicago Sky Head Athletic Trainer Georgia Fischer and Account Executive Wendy Ellis on Monday. Over lunch, the girls participated in a question and answer session with topics ranging from the importance of education to what it is like to be a female professional in the sports industry.

“I hoped to give them the confidence to take advantage of the opportunities available to women,” Fischer said. “I wanted to inspire them to overcome any struggles that they might have and to be successful in the future.”

Girls in the Game, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that quality fitness, health and leadership programming is available and easily accessible to local girls, sponsors monthly interviews with professional women such as Fischer and Ellis. The interviews are part of their leadership program, and also aim to expose the girls to downtown Chicago and real-life work environments.

“The girls doing the interviews are from our Girls Advisory Board—a group of youth leaders from all of our different programs—that come together to make decisions and evaluate our services,” said Amy Skeen, Executive Director of Girls in the Game. “They also identify female leaders in Chicago and conduct interviews so they can learn about working in their fields.”

Other activities organized by Girls in the Game include after-school programs, sports and leadership summer camps and annual community service projects. Since its founding in 1995, Girls in the Game has served more than 10,000 girls in the Chicago area.