our story

Sisters In Sync™, inc.

Empowering, Impacting, and Improving the lives of Young Ladies, 10 – 24, through the Safe Place Program Model

Meet Our Founder

Dolores “Mama Duck” Allen (Founder: 1944 – 2022) established Sisters In Sync Inc. from a 51-year dream she carried since the age of 9 years old. Alongside her “Dream Team,” she spent 20 years pouring love, life skills, and mentorship into adolescent girls. Her dedication, vision, and wisdom is the foundation of Sisters In Sync, Inc.

Today, her original blueprint continues to empower young women from Prince George’s County to the communities in Kenya. The flame she ignited burns brighter than ever as we honor her sacred trust and carry her vision into a milestone 25th anniversary year.

Read Mama Duck's Full 20-Year Journey

The Early Vision

Dolores Allen, affectionately known as Mama Duck, discovered her life’s vision at just 9 years old. While watching The Shirley Temple Show, she felt deep sorrow for the children living in the orphanages on screen, describing the environment, the workers, and the children as dismal. It bothered her so deeply that she began to dream of owning her own orphanage—a cheerful place with bright walls, pretty girlie colors, a positive, caring staff, and the emotional warmth adolescent girls needed to develop healthfully.

This dream was born from personal pain. Mama Duck described her own childhood as being treated like an orphan. Her mother did not choose to bond with her, dressing her nicely but offering no emotional exchange. “She was never a warm mother,” Mama Duck recalled, “only a drill sergeant and strict disciplinarian with changing moods.” Left to self-nurture, young Dolores repeated affirmations to herself, constantly whispering, “you’re a good girl.”

The Dream Team

As the years passed, Mama Duck carried this dream close to her heart, bringing it to fruition 51 years later in 2002. When the opportunity to establish a nonprofit first arose, it brought fear and trepidation; Mama Duck did not visualize herself as a founder. However, a dedicated group of women caught her vision, rallied behind her, and insisted she take the lead. That is exactly what she did.

Mama Duck and her “Dream Team”—the name she gave the women who stood with her—recruited 23 girls between the ages of 10 and 18 from the Bladensburg Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Bladensburg, Maryland. The girls named the program Sisters For Christ. Meeting twice a month, the Dream Team engaged the girls in fun, purpose-driven life skills modules focusing on etiquette, leadership, career planning, financial management, community service, and spirituality.

The girls themselves were instrumental in developing the core concept of “Creating a Safe Place”—an emotional, intellectual, and mental forum focused on building self-esteem from the inside out. They created the Sister Care Codes and Vows, recorded the official Sisters For Christ song, set officer requirements, wrote by-law amendments, and chose their original colors: blue, black, and silver.

The Bladensburg Seventh-day Adventist Church became the charter chapter for what would soon become a global movement. In 2004, Mama Duck successfully registered the organization as a nonprofit under the name Sisters In Sync™, Inc. (SIS, Inc.). Contributing most of the finances herself to build and grow the organization, she worked tirelessly to pour love into adolescent girls.

From 2002 to 2011, following nine months of interactive modules and field trips, Sisters For Christ chapters, which grew to over 7 chapters, from around the United States gathered each spring for a formal Awards Banquet. This grand occasion allowed the girls to put their etiquette training into practice. The banquet honored the girls, their leaders, and their parents with awards for Commitment, Leadership, Caring Heart (Community Service), Senior Cotillion, and Sister, Parent, and Dedicated New Member of the Year.

The New Name

As the program blossomed and the girls thrived, a major collaboration with the Seventh-day Adventist World Church was formed in 2012. Together, they made the decision to change the program’s name from Sisters For Christ to My Sister My Friend™ (MSMF). Under this new banner, SIS, Inc. expanded its reach beyond church walls, producing curriculum explicitly designed for public and private middle and high schools.

Mama Duck took the lead on developing the “Safe Place Kit,” feeling absolutely unstoppable. God revealed to her that this was her “orphanage without walls.”

Then, the unexpected happened. On May 30, 2012, Mama Duck woke up with a throbbing headache and was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, requiring emergency surgery to remove blood clots from the left side of her brain. She was released after three days, but returned just 10 days later with severe brain hemorrhaging. Following a grueling four-hour surgery, she was placed in the ICU and Critical Care Unit. The hemorrhage left her paralyzed on her right side, with no memory, and unable to speak, eat, or recognize her loved ones.

Mama Duck was moved to a rehabilitation center, where her family nurtured her daily. They filled her room with family photos, praying it would jog her memory. Despite the facility telling the family she might never be ready for rehabilitation, God knew otherwise. Guided by her family’s positive influence, love, and prayers, Mama Duck made sudden, immense progress through physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Eventually, she was back to speaking.

On July 17, 2012, she was discharged to her son’s home to recuperate. During this season, Mama Duck fought a quiet, intense battle with the fear of dying, which would wake her up in the middle of the night. Processing the sharp physical feelings in her head and realizing she had narrowingly escaped death and permanent paralysis, being alive frightened her. She wondered every day if the trauma would repeat itself. Knowing this fear would destroy the good God had done, Mama Duck turned to her Bible, finding a positive cure through meditation on the Word. After five months of outpatient therapy, she drove herself home, eager to begin work again on the Safe Place Kit.

The Global Reach

The deep discussion, planning, and collaboration with leadership culminated in a massive international milestone. In 2018, the Seventh-day Adventist World Church officially licensed an adaptive version of the My Sister My Friend™ curriculum, releasing it across the globe. This partnership allowed Mama Duck’s vision to scale internationally, where it has since been implemented to empower young women in countries like Kenya and cities like London.

The Safe Place Kit

Through many trying times, including the global COVID-19 pandemic, Mama Duck spent nine years completing the My Sister My Friend™ Safe Place Kit manuscript before handing it over to the designer. The finalized kit features three comprehensive books:

The All About Me Student’s Workbook: Heavily influenced by the original 2002 charter group, this workbook is designed as a purpose-driven training course for school systems looking to assist middle and high school girls in personal and life skills development.
The Instructor’s Manual: Provides clarity, guidance, and information for adult leaders on how to successfully foster the concept of “Creating a Safe Place!”
The Instructor’s Curriculum: Outlines the specific modules and activities to serve as an actionable guide for adult leaders.

True to her giving heart, Mama Duck also created and included The Sharyse Napue Scholarship Program for college-bound seniors who completed MSMF, honoring a cherished charter member of Sisters For Christ who passed away unexpectedly.

In the fall of 2021, Mama Duck scheduled a meeting for February 2022 to promote her Safe Place Kit at a boarding high school in Pennsylvania. Sadly, she never made that meeting. On January 27, 2022, Mama Duck passed away unexpectedly, leaving her 20-year vision to be carried out by the Dream Team and the many hands who had come alongside her.

The Vision Lives On

Today, Mama Duck’s vision lives on. SIS, Inc. currently serves adolescent girls and young women, 10 – 24, through SIS, Inc. three distinct programs:

My Sister My Friend ™: An after-school Life Skills Development program for middle and high school girls.
Career Sister ™: A program providing job training and internships for young ladies 16 – 24.
Sisters For Christ: The foundational program for churches serving girls 10 – 18.

Meet Our Executive Director

Linda Lowe is a seasoned youth development strategist, venture philanthropist, and the Executive Director of Sisters In Sync™, Inc. Moving into the organization’s milestone 25th anniversary year in 2027, her 22-year career stands as a powerful testament to the long-term impact of the signature “Safe Place” program model.

Linda first walked through the organization’s doors in 2005 as a college senior volunteer, later completing her graduate internship in 2009.

Over nearly two decades, she dedicated herself entirely to the mission, serving in every organizational and Board capacity—from program coordinator to Board Chair.

In 2022, she stepped into the role of Executive Director following the passing of her longtime mentor and founder, Mama Duck. During this transition, Linda recognized a profound opportunity to give college students a direct pathway into the youth development field, inspiring her to create the core Career Sister™ program. Under her visionary leadership, the organization successfully modernized its operations from a volunteer-run nonprofit into an employee-based model while expanding its service age to 24.

Beyond Sisters In Sync™, Inc., Linda’s elite expertise spans the entirety of the youth development ecosystem—including workforce readiness, K-12 and higher education, faith-based leadership, child welfare, and youth justice diversion. She has steered major workforce, academic, and crisis programs, including her time with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, leading Gap Inc.’s This Way ONward initiative, and directing the women’s residence hall First-Year Experience infrastructure at Washington Adventist University. Her extensive background in crisis intervention includes directing critical emergency care in St. Petersburg, Florida, for vulnerable foster youth at The Salvation Army Sallie House and providing diversion services for crisis-impacted teens at Family Resources’ SafePlace2B emergency youth shelter. Driven by faith, she also spent a decade directing her church’s youth ministries, authoring custom curricula and mentoring young people in public speaking.

As Sisters In Sync™, Inc. celebrates 25 years of impact, Linda is formalizing the organization’s regional and global footprint into a premier youth development consulting firm to strengthen youth advancement infrastructure worldwide. Under her continued guidance, the organization remains deeply committed to its local operations—having been rooted in Prince George’s County for 18 years before expanding to Baltimore City in 2022 and launching in St. Petersburg in 2026. Sisters In Sync™, Inc. continues to operate its foundational My Sister My Friend™ program alongside Career Sister™ to empower young ladies locally, while equipping youth development partners to implement the specialized curriculum across the globe.

A Sacred Trust: A Note from Linda

My relationship with Mama Duck went far beyond organizational leadership; she was my mentor, my guide, and truly my second mother. We spent countless days and nights inside her mountain-home office, a room overflowing with binders, photos of our girls, and post-it notes outlining plans. Whenever the ideas paused, I would step out onto her attached balcony to enjoy the peace of the mountain view.

Following her unexpected passing in 2022, I went to her house to collect the organization’s items. Walking up the stairs to that sacred office, I stopped. Taped to the outside of the door was a simple piece of paper with my name written on it. Standing on those stairs, I wept with a profound mixture of sadness and immediate clarity. I knew I was standing before a divine assignment; it was my time to step fully into leadership and carry this torch forward.

Of all the wisdom she poured into me, her most frequent advice was: ‘Linda, you have to be flexible.’ I pass that exact lesson down to our interns today. As we lead Sisters In Sync Inc. into its next chapter, I ensure that unshakeable kindness remains alive in every room we enter, paired with high standards that help both our young ladies and our workers rise to their true potential.