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I wonder how my life would have been different had I attended one of these conferences. 

Developing your sense of identity as a young lady is a challenge all on its own.  When you are a teenage girl, distractions range from boys, boys, boys to drugs, popularity, family, and plain old peer pressure.  If we all just had one day to focus on our future and be surrounded with like minded girls, if we had just one day to be in the presence of real role models with real, meaningful advice for us, what choices would we have made differently?  What kind of future could we have created for ourselves?

Chianti Cleggett developed the Young Women's Empowerment Conference with just these questions in mind.   "We want these girls to hear, 'You are everything you want to be.'" Cleggett tells me over coffee at Urban Standard.  For many of the young ladies who come through the program, this may be exactly the thing they need to hear.  Cleggett notes that though the girls come from all different backgrounds, when they enter the doors of the conference, prerequisites of place and money are eliminated.  "They may not have good grades, or a mother and father who are helping them," says Cleggett, but the conference is designed to show the attendees they have many options in life. 

At the conference are workshops and information booths designed to expose these young girls to myriad paths they can take after high school.  Two panel discussions, "After High School -- Mapping Your Path to Success," help guide the young women as to the broad spectrum of choices they have, including but not limited to college.  Representatives from Culinard, Aveda, and the military will be on hand to counsel attendees on alternative paths to college.  Additionally, two major workshops, one outlining careers in the medical field and another outlining careers in media, explore two fields prominent in the Birmingham career track.  

Much of the conference is about demonstrating to the girls the value of making connections.  "I've learned in the last few years the value of networking, and teaching these girls how to make and use that connection early is an important part of empowering them for success in life," Cleggett says.  However, there is also a strong emphasis on serving your community.  Talks will be given by keynote speaker Allison Black Cornelius, principle consultant of Blackboard Group, Tasha Simone, radio personality of 107.7, and Andrea McCaskey, first African American president of Junior League of Birmingham.  "I've learned in the last few years the value of networking, and teaching these girl how to make and use that connection early is an important part of empowering them for success in life."

Chianti Cleggett conceived of the YWEC purely out of her own passionate desire to provide a guiding light for young women.  Cleggett was inspired by the women in her own family.  "My mother gave me a lot of the tools that I have and opened doors for me.  My grandmother was huge into community service and took me with her to city council meetings."  And knowing that not everyone has these opportunities and role models at hand, she set forth to provide.  "My angel, Andrea McCaskey, helped connect me to YWCA.  I met her because I'd interviewed her in 2007 for the Birmingham Times," says Cleggett, "but it was two years later I called her and told her what I wanted to do."  The rest fell into place quickly, and the conference was born in 2009 and was an instant success.

It's extremely significant to me that the conference targets not just one specific portion of the teen girl demographic, but all teen girls.  Financial Officer Noelle Cooper emphasizes, "It means that girls from all different backgrounds from all over the state are getting together and meeting one another, being exposed to other young girls they may never otherwise meet."  This exposure to diversity is just another piece of the empowerment puzzle.  By crossing paths with others from a completely different experience, we learn more about ourselves, dispel ignorant misconceptions, and develop deeper compassion and understanding for others.  This sort of development supports further intellectual and emotional development, thereby building a better foundation for success in life. 

During the last portion of the conference, awards will be given to the young ladies in attendance based on outstanding achievements.  Categories include Community Service, Entrepreneurship, Sports, Arts & Entertainment and Leadership.  The award categories chosen underscore the mission of the conference and help young women perceive what it means to be well-rounded.  Providing a path with clear, attainable goals teaches young women to take what they may have only imagined to be possible just a step further into reality, one step at a time, until they have succeeded in their own dreams.  YWEC also teaches girls that their dreams, whatever they may be to each individual, are important and real and therefore should be taken seriously.  This lesson, in and of itself, is perhaps the most empowering gift of all.

The Young Women's Empowerment Conference will be held on March 27th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Central Alabama YWCA in downtown Birmingham.  Those interested in the conference must apply by March 15th.  Click here for a link to the application or call Chianti Cleggett at 205-587-8662.

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