When asked what the GirlFriends Boston community means to her, Giulia Matthews, a 40- year-old GirlFriends Boston member and Waltham resident, said “everything.”
“It’s just this untapped resource of potential best friends, and if not best friends, great friends. We’re a community of women,” Matthews said. “Any time I come to an activity, I walk away feeling recharged.”
What began as a newsletter of Boston recommendations and a Facebook group in 2018 has transformed into a membership program, now with about 400 members. GirlFriends Boston is an organization for all women interested in making friends and partaking in activities around the city. Past events include picnics, boat rides and kayaking.
Owner and CEO Ana Baptista said her favorite moments are when friendships transcend the organization.
“I have members who have traveled internationally with each other, and I see that on social media,” Baptista said. “That’s my measure of success.”
Baptista moved to Boston from Venezuela 10 years ago to study English for nine months. Afterward, she enrolled in a night program at Endicott College, but said due to the untraditional nature of her school, it was difficult to make friends. Following graduation, she pursued photography as an avenue to meet people.
“I found it a little bit difficult to … build community, make friends, especially being Latina and being from … countries [where] it’s extremely easy to just walk up to someone and be like, ‘Hi, hello … do you want to be my friend?’” Baptista said.
Through photography, she was able to attend events for bloggers. Desiring to make these experiences available to a wider audience, GirlFriends Boston was born. GirlFriends Boston was later registered as a business at the beginning of 2020.
It wasn’t until the end of 2020, when GirlFriends Boston leadership shifted, that GirlFriends Boston became Baptista’s full-time gig. From there, Baptista grew its Facebook group and Instagram following. In the summer of 2021, the membership program was relaunched to make way for in-person opportunities following the COVID-19 pandemic.
GirlFriends Boston members look back at past experiences with fond memories and look forward to creating more. At a Sept. 22 GirlFriends Boston event, seven women gathered to browse at Wyllo, a storefront in the SoWa Art and Design district with curated goods from female makers, and explore SoWa’s Open Market. They received an exclusive discount from both Wyllo and Pours & Petals.
As members arrived at the event, they reunited with Baptista prepared to bond with soon-to-be friends. The woman compared their recent travel experiences before venturing into Wyllo.
“I had no plans today, and I’m like, this is fun to do and a lot of my friends live outside of the city now, so it’s kind of harder to get them to come in and do things like this with me,” said Hannah Morrissey, 27, a Cambridge resident. “It’s nice to have a group to walk around with and do activities.”
Other members shared a similar sentiment about the built-in community GirlFriends Boston provides. Kellie Johnson, a 24-year-old Brighton resident, said she would attend similar events on her own, but enjoys having a like-minded community to accompany her.
GirlFriends Boston serves as a community for those new to the city. Christi Scheibner, 23, a Boston resident who moved to the city a year and a half ago, joined GirlFriends Boston upon her move.
“It just has provided me with so [much] support, especially since I moved here knowing no one, and to meet just a group of people who are immediately so kind, I feel like it’s honestly really rare,” Scheibner said. “To feel welcomed in Boston since it’s such a big place has been really special.”
after: (Alyssa Fell)
Events range from 10 to 30 people to allow for a personal experience.
Once attendees get to know each other, they come to events in pairs and carpool. They also develop and join subgroups, like “GirlFriends who Fit,” “GirlFriends who Read” and “GirlFriends who Eat.”
An individual does not need to be a member of GirlFriends Boston to attend events, though members receive priority for many opportunities, along with discounts. Membership is $20 per month, $110 for six months or $220 per year. There are some members-only opportunities.
Baptista said GirlFriends Boston is an organization that needs to be experienced to feel what it is like. She praised the women for their welcoming presence, and said that even those who are more shy find their groove with the help of other members.
“It’s my pride and joy, 100%,” Baptista said. “I feel like GirlFriends is my baby, and I’ve seen it grow, and I help it grow, and we’re at the point where it’s like growing on its own and by itself, just with the support of each member who participates and obviously the team behind it.”
