<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Skateboarding is a positive and empowering activity, especially for young gxrls; and it’s a good tool to create leadership. That’s why this year Skateistan together with Women Win (an NGO that focuses on empowering womxn through sport launched the first round of the ROLL Models program in order to empower the next generation of female leaders. A total of 26 womxn were selected to be part of this year’s ROLL Model and carry out skateboarding projects in Greece, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>At the beginning, the plan was that every ROLL Model would participate in several webinars in order to start preparing the projects, covering topics such as program design and child protection. Then, in May 2020 go to Berlin for the first ever RM leadership camp. However, due to the current COVID-19 situation many people were unable to carry their project as planned. This meant that the camp got postponed and several other projects too.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h5><span><span><span><span><em><span>All RM showed so much resilience, creativity and support towards each other and as a result most RM managed to adapt their projects to the current situation, however, this was not the case for everyone, some projects had to be postponed, some so far indefinitely.&nbsp;</span></em></span></span></span></span></h5>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>We thought it was a good idea to share the experiences they lived during the ROLL Models 2020 program. For this purpose, we have spoken with them and asked them to tell us about their experiences and thoughts about it. We have found all the testimonies very enriching and we believe that they have much to contribute to the future participants of this year. That is why we have decided to dedicate a space to share about the participants from last year and reflect what they experienced.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
