Two weekends ago, the Detroit Chapter of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College (NAASC) – my alma mater – hosted our very first girls’ conference entitled “Success Secrets from Spelman Sisters: A Girls’ Empowerment Conference.” The Conference was held at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. Twenty girls in grades 6-11 spent the better part of a Saturday with us and our wonderful guest speakers learning more about self-esteem, healthy image, academic success, and vision and goal setting. They even got a chance to make vision boards! To conclude the Conference, we had a panel where the girls were able to ask questions about anything they wanted – school, career paths, friends, and yes…boys!!!
The girls working on their vision boards!
For those who are not familiar, Spelman College is a small, all-women HBCU (Historically Black College or University) located in Atlanta, GA. Sisterhood (hence the title of our Conference) and service to others is instilled in us from day one. If you’ve ever seen two Spelman alumnae meet each other for the first time, you have probably heard them say, “Hello Spelman sister!” or something to that effect. When I moved back to Detroit, I was so busy with work and Challenge Detroit that I didn’t make it out to any Detroit NAASC events until December, but I knew I wanted to get involved in our service activities.
When I attended my first Detroit NAASC meeting and I learned about the opportunity to be on the Girls’ Conference Planning Committee, I hopped on it right away. After several meetings and conference calls, Conference day came and, despite a couple of small event hiccups (such as my computer not having the outlet needed to project on a screen!), it went very, very well. We surveyed the girls and 100% of them said they would recommend our Conference to other girls they know! Giving back is such a great feeling, especially when you’re empowering youth to be their absolute best self and live out their dreams.
Spelman alumnae and conference attendees after the day was complete