Inner Beauty Summit
Total Me…Girls On The Rise Summit
An Amazing Group of Students, Presenters, Sponsors and Volunteers
By Beverly Jordan
OAAA Education Coordinator
She believed she could so she did…. is the motto to
the First Annual Total Me Summit. The Summit was held
March 31, 2017 at eRead Learning Center. Our mission
is to provide young women of color an opportunity to
embrace themselves, achieve greater inner strength, and
support one another along their journey. We want our
young women to feel empowered and ready to take on
the world. The Total Me, Girl’s on the Rise! is a full day
conference geared toward middle school female students.
Joining with Albuquerque Public Schools, we focused on
nine middle schools. A total of 140 young ladies attended.
In addition to the conference, we will provide follow-up
sessions with mentors so that we can continue to support
our youth as they transition to high school.
The NM Office of African American Affairs has
created a full day conference centered on inner and
outer beauty. In small groups, these young women
moved through six morning sessions on inner beauty
while the afternoon session focused on outer beauty.
Our presenters were professional ladies from different
career backgrounds. These strong and engaging female
presenters provided their insight on becoming an educated
woman with dignity and grace.
www.oaaa.state.nm.us
We had several sponsors for this event: Albuquerque
Public Schools Office of Equity and Engagement, APS
Language and Cultural Equity, YDI, YMCA, SW Women’s
Law Center, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, The Master’s Touch Cathedral Women
of Destiny, Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission,
and the Albuquerque Chapter of the Links, Incorporated.
Our goal was to be able to provide an educational
experience for middle school girls throughout New
Mexico, and provide a culture for them to comprehend
within themselves who they are and who they can
become. Thank you to everyone who pulled together to
make this day possible and a special thank you for our
young women.
Conference Presenters
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