ABOUT
Courageous Girls encourages and equips moms of daughters within the context of small communities.
Who Are Courageous Girls
When we know we are loved, we can boldly offer that same love to those around us. Changing not only our families, our communities, but also the world.
We loudly proclaim that Courageous Girls come in all shapes and sizes, but the core of who she is being transformed into can be described in a special acronym: COURAGEOUS GIRL
We firmly believe that every girl has a unique purpose, and is equipped for that purpose. And because mom is her primary model for what it means to be female — how to relate to God, to herself, and to others — we are intentionally guiding both mom and daughter in a journey of becoming more confident, courageous, and connected.
As we have relationship with God and with each other in community, learning to trust God with what He says about Himself and His daughters, we become more rooted in grace.
Courageous Girls is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, originally born out of the work Jeff and Terra do with Living Wholehearted — a professional counseling and organizational and leadership development firm.
Courageous Girls is a natural extension of their greater mission to rebuild, restore, and renew the generations long devastated by helping women, young and old, live and lead with integrity in the home and community, and developing female leaders in the church.
Led a small team, a volunteer advisory board of CG moms and a governing Board who are all deeply passionate about this movement, Courageous Girls curriculum and resources are accessible to everyone, everywhere. We are committed to keeping the digital curriculum remains FREE.
Our goal is to reach 10,000 groups by 2030!
Every donation — including CG merchandise and event fees — goes directly to the mission.
Courageous Girls Encourages and Equips Mothers & Daughters within the context of small communities
With the help of passionate moms sharing with other moms, Courageous Girls has grown into something far beyond what we ever imagined:
1,000 groups across the US and 14 countries.
Here’s what we see from girls who go through Courageous Girls:
76%
Open Trusted Relationship
between moms & daughters
80%
Reported Meaningful Friendships
for both moms & daughters
83%
Reported Healthy Body Image
between moms & daughters
76%
Giving Back To Their Communities
through service and hope
81%
See Themselves As True Leaders
In their communities
These girls don't just dream of changing the world. They're already doing it.
And we are still watching their story unfold.
The CG Story
You are a mom who wants to lead your daughter and create a trusted relationship with her. And like most moms, you might feel alone, ill-equipped, and unsure where to start. It’s less about the desire and more about the “how.”
You are not alone. And this was made just for you.
I’m Terra Mattson. For over two decades, I have been a mom of two daughters, professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, executive coach to female leaders and now, CEO of Courageous Girls.
I'll never forget coming home one evening and holding my daughters tightly, tears in my eyes. That day I had sat with women hiding behind masks of strength while battling isolation and depression. I listened to stories of childhood sexual abuse. I met with a teenage girl fighting an eating disorder — and another questioning her gender. I sat with a sweet eight-year-old paralyzed by crippling anxiety.
They all had one thing in common. They loved Jesus.
That night I thought about my own story with bulimia — and the confusing messages in the church and culture. I searched for resources that were both trauma-informed and biblically grounded. Christian parenting resources offered truth — but often felt performance-based or lacked practical tools. Mental health resources offered helpful strategies — but were completely void of Christ.
I was left wanting.
I reimagine how we disciple girls today and began writing. I invited eight other courageous moms to lead our girls, and started in my living room.
That was the first Courageous Girls group — born in 2012 in Sherwood, Oregon. We wanted something counter to the performance-based world our daughters were growing up in. A place for the conversations they desperately needed. A safe, trusted community where all of us could practice living LOVED.
My daughter Adonia and I spent nine years in a group together. My younger daughter Nevaeh and I finished our tenth year. If God has taught me anything over the years, it is this: a safe and trusted relationship can change everything! Are you in?
Our Mission
Our motivation is to see a generation of women who are navigating trusted relationships, are confident in who God says He is and who He made them to be and are resiliently moving through the peaks and valleys of life. A generation of women who are rooted in grace and free from the performance-based treadmill we are enticed with every day.
Courageous Girls answers this goal by providing clear and trusted Biblical, clinical and relational wisdom for moms. With the long-term goal in mind, lessons are created as building blocks and encouraged to unfold within community.
Not only does a CG community provide the perfect place to practice the art of relationship, but it also allows the moms to share the load which provides a diversity in leadership. All the while nurturing a trusted connection with the first model in a daughter’s life, her mom.
Groups provide a safe place to focus on God’s word rather than the competing influences in the world. Instead of competition, comparison and judgment…groups strive to grow in gratitude, joy and acceptance. CG is an intentional choice to equip ourselves and our daughters to love others well and to live from a place of wholeness and grace.
MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Reach out to our Courageous Girls Board of Directors and Advisory Board by sending an email to: info@mycourageousgirls.com
Our Board of Directors
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Terra Mattson, MA, LMFT, LPC
CO-FOUNDER & CEO
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Jeff Mattson, M.A. ORGL
CO-FOUNDER
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Aimee Eckley
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Wendy Higgins
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Nick West
BOARD CHAIR
Our Advisory Board
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Lorna Borger
BOULDER, COLORADO
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Sarah Pickell
NEWBERG, OREGON
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Meagan Brown
AUSTIN, TEXAS
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Rebecca Grace
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA
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Jessie Pick
RIDGEFIELD, WASHINGTON
Our advisory board is delighted to offer consultations to new CG leaders. Reach out to info@mycourageousgirls.com for more info.
The Organization
If you are interested in partnering with us in this incredible and unique movement, here are ways you can support:
Start your own Courageous Girls group with your daughter.
Lead a Courageous: Being Daughters Rooted in Grace book study with other moms and purchase your books. (The book is sold anywhere you buy books.)
Purchase a hard copy of the curriculum or CG merch.
Make a tax-deductible donation or become a monthly partner.
Join us for an event in your area.
Invite Terra to speak to your community.
Be a committed prayer partner, praying for moms and daughters around the world who are intentionally pursuing their daughters and helping them grow in courage to trust God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.
The Branding
The Courageous Girls name and logo symbolizes many things.
The Girls in Courageous Girls is intentionally plural because we don’t navigate this journey alone. As mom and daughter group members, we need each other! Learning how to love and be loved within the context of community is one of the greatest gifts Courageous Girls has to offer.
Color variations throughout the graphic logo represent the different stages of a daughter’s life; we help moms walk with their daughters at every stage of their growing years. The many contrasting and complimentary colors represent the beautiful diversity of women, which provide various role models and mentors for our girls, enhancing our understanding of what it means to be female: from wiring to culture, to body type and skin color, to gifts, talents, experiences, and passions!
The mountain represents the reality that every mom and daughter will experience peaks and valleys in their life. We are less about preparing the road for our girls, and more about preparing our girls for the road that lies ahead. We can help our daughters trust who God says He is and who He says they are, which allows them to face every leg of their journey with courage.
Our tagline, “rooted in grace” comes from the heart stance that living a Christian and human life is not about following rules, performing, or meeting expectations of our culture, churches, and communities. Rather, it is about trusting a process of transformation that is messy and downright hard at times. It’s about knowing and trusting that by God’s grace alone, He is at work in us, our daughters, and within our groups. We do not want to raise performanced-based Christians, but rather young women who know they are loved and know how to love others well, learned through authentic relationships and consistent participation in community.