Los Angeles, CA–The Young Women’s Leadership Conference brings high-school girls together with professional women of color to encourage and inspire them on their journey through high-school and life after.
Girls from the various local high-schools in Los Angeles attended this empowerment conference at Loyola Marymount University yesterday.
Different workshops were led by women who were attorney’s, college faculty, city employees and entrepreneurs.
‘Smart, beautiful and powerful’ was the theme of this year. The girls attended different workshops that touched on aspects such as being a visionary and entrepreneur, social, emotional wellness and successfully navigating systems.
Thandi Nguyen is the founder of Xtreme Unity, a non profit that aims to bring P.E back to schools and address childhood obesity. She held a workshop yesterday that focused on the meaning of beauty and confidence.
Nguyen facilitated a discussion between the girls, Women’s Football League wide receiver Malissa Miles and model, entrepreneur and film-maker Christina Cooper.
This is Nguyen’s third year working with the conference.
She asked the girls to rate their confidence level on a scale of one to ten. Girls who ranked their confidence level lower than five were asked to share.
“I guess it is because I have a bad past and I been through a lot. My self-esteem has also been through a lot,” one girl shared.
Nguyen assured her that she was more confident and brave than she gave herself credit for to share her truth in a room full of people.
“Look to your right. You were a nine right? And to your left, you were a six. You have peers next to you who have high confidence, who are here to be your sister, to elevate you back up.”
Nguyen said that she wanted everyone to strip down to who they are as a person.
“I saw girls of different races, different ages and from different high schools all come together to boost one another, to compliment one another, whether they knew each other or not. They became one village of positivity to empower one another.”
