![Senator Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/4_3_small/public/chris-jacobs_0.jpg?itok=gCEK05mK)
Katie Joyce and Meghan Cavanaugh
May 9, 2017
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ISSUE:
- 2017 Women of Distinction
![](/sites/default/files/styles/760x377/public/article/main-image/katie_joyce_and_meghan_cavanaugh.jpg?itok=K9pj0bUP)
Katie Joyce and Meghan Cavanaugh co-founded the Buffalo Council of Girls on the Run International in 2010. The organization inspires and empowers young girls to reach their fullest potential while living joyful, healthy and confident lives. Through coaching, mentoring, team building, and – of course – running, girls realize a tangible sense of achievement as well as a framework for setting and accomplishing life goals.
After stints in New York City and Washington, D.C., Ms. Joyce and her husband moved back home to Buffalo to raise their three children. She began looking for ways to give back to her community, and sought out opportunities to use the sport of running to empower girls and young women on a larger, community-wide scale.
Ms. Cavanaugh began running after college. Running soon became a central part of her life, helping her stay healthy, happy and connected with friends and the community that she
loves.
During one of their long runs together, Ms. Joyce and Ms. Cavanaugh decided to embark on the journey of bringing Girls on the Run to Buffalo – and they have not looked back since.
As Council Director, Ms. Joyce helps manage all the day-to-day operations, while overseeing new sites and Council growth. As Program Director, Ms. Cavanaugh manages the behindthe-scenes operations of registration and volunteer/coach recruitment. In just seven years, more than 11,000 girls have participated in Buffalo’s Girls on the Run program from over 167 schools, in all eight Western New York counties.
As leaders of a not-for-profit organization that firmly believes in providing this remarkable programming to girls in need, both Ms. Joyce and Ms. Cavanaugh have been able to provide free registration and running sneakers to over 5,000 girls, allowing them to know what it is to be a girl on the run!
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