The Second City Partners With Funny Girls To Expand Leadership Training For Young Students

Funny Girls, a social-emotional learning leadership program for girls in grades 3–8, is partnering with legendary comedy institution The Second City to expand its improv-based curriculum to more communities. The collaboration will utilize The Second City's network of teaching artists to deliver the program’s science-backed approach to leadership development.

First created in 2015 by The Harnisch Foundation, Funny Girls integrates creativity and confidence-building through improv techniques that encourage students to explore their voices and leadership identities in supportive group settings. The parfunnygirls.org/secondcitytnership brings together The Second City’s decades of experience in improvisation with Funny Girls’ curriculum aimed at providing girls with space to build self-awareness, resilience, and collaboration skills.

“We have invested in women's leadership for over two decades, and this is our strategic investment in the youthful pipeline,” says Jenny Raymond, Executive Director of The Harnisch Foundation. “Partnering with The Second City and their incredible roster of teaching artists is a dream combo to bring Funny Girls to more kids who can benefit from this kind of unique leadership support.”

The collaboration also echoes the origins of improvisation in education. The work draws directly from the methods of Viola Spolin, the social worker and educator whose “theater games” were first used in the 1930s to teach children dramatics, empathy, and teamwork. These same games later shaped The Second City’s early workshops in 1960, making the partnership a return to improv’s earliest purpose.

“Viola Spolin, often described as the mother of improvisation, showed us how play could help people find connection and confidence—starting with the immigrant children she taught at Hull House,” says Julie Dumais Osborne, Vice President of Training Centers at The Second City. “At The Second City, that spirit still guides us, and we're thrilled to extend it through this partnership with Funny Girls.”

Inside a Funny Girls classroom, improv is used as a tool to support leadership development. Students practice trusting their instincts, collaborating across groups, and viewing mistakes as opportunities rather than setbacks. Through shared play, girls build communication and self-expression skills that support their long-term leadership growth.

More information about the program is available at funnygirls.org/secondcity.

Founded in 1959, The Second City has become one of the most recognized names in improvisation, serving as a creative launch pad for performers, writers, directors, and practitioners across North America. Its corporate education division, Second City Works, applies improvisational methods to support professional and organizational development.