Girls Who Can
A PROJECT SHARING STORIES OF GIRLS WHO CAN DO ANYTHING
STORIES CURATED BY AMANI SHROFF
INTERVIEW 1
Phoebe the Car Mechanic
Phoebe has always enjoyed working with tools and solving problems. She has been trained by Nancy to gradually take over all of the technical work and ownership of Grandma's Garage. Phoebe embraces new technology with enthusiasm, and is very comfortable working with all the computer systems in your car.
INTERVIEW 2
Dawn the Electrician
Dawn is a female electrician that works in a labor union. She is passionate about her work and teaching young girls about her craft.
INTERVIEW 3
Jac the Plumber
Jac is a phenomenal plumber who works to educate young girls about plumbing. She is passionate about her work and has been in the industry for many years.
INTERVIEW 4
Patti the Car Mechanic
Patti's Auto Care LLC was founded on the basic idea that everyone deserves respect. It is their mission to treat each person that comes through our door with dignity and sensitivity. They believe this attention to detail has paid off by providing them with loyal customers.
INTERVIEW 5
Kim the Handywoman
Kim has been a handy-woman for over 25 years. Her motto is to not only fix but do it right so that it never breaks again.
INTERVIEW 6
Jenni the Carpenter
Jenni has been a carpenter for over 20 years and was kind enough to tell us about herself and her craft.
About Amani
In high school, I noticed something that bothered me—many of my friends, despite being incredibly smart and capable, struggled with basic life skills like fixing simple things around the house. I realized that these weren’t things we were taught in school, and not all of us had parents or mentors to show us the ropes.
So, I created Girls Who Can, a website where women teach other women how to do everyday tasks—whether it’s changing a tire, unclogging a toilet, or adjusting a fuse. The idea was simple: to build a supportive community where girls could learn from each other and feel empowered to tackle life’s challenges. It wasn’t just about skills—it was about confidence, connection, and knowing that you don’t have to face the world alone.
This website is a space where women could share their knowledge, and teaching each other makes us all stronger. Girls Who Can isn’t just a project—it it is a movement.
In the Media
Amani was on a panel discussion on Youth involvement in our Community along with California Assemblyman Marc Berman.
“One day, we’re going to inherit a world that we refuse to participate in.”
Youth help ‘cut through the noise’ at Palo Alto town hall.
Amani leads a discussion on youth involvement in local policy making.
“We wanted to focus on local politics because it is often ignored. We all know who the president is, but how many of us can name our supervisor?”
Policy in Action Club discusses local politics
In the Community
We hosted a community fix your bike event for over twenty-five middle school girls.
We hosted a feedback session from women in the community.
We want to build a platform that women will like and use. To ensure we are building for our users, we conducted extensive user research. Here are some videos of their feedback. Overall, the feedback was great. Women wanted more content about specific tasks. They also wanted more information about how to find tradeswomen.