Growing into a young woman today involves meeting life's unpredictable challenges head on. To become a confident young woman you must think boldly, embrace your strengths, balance your friends, family and studies.
Attend the YWNC in Washington, DC the fall (date TBD) and learn from successful women who have made the journey to womanhood and you will acquire the tools for your own.
Program Agenda
Date: TBD
Washington, DC
2009's Program Below, 2010 is being determined with the Youth Board
8:00 am- Conference Registration: 500 8th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004
8:30 – 9:00 am-Welcome Breakfast with Erica I. Parkhurst, Founder & President of YWNC and
Alicia R. Hughes, City Councilwoman of Alexandria, VA
9:00 – 10:30 am- Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Session 1: How to Recognize Your Strengths and Develop Them
You can become overwhelmed by your weaknesses that you forget to recognize your strengths and abilities. This is an understandable reaction (most people tend to focus on what is wrong in their lives rather than what is right) but focusing all your time and energy on your difficulties is likely to have negative consequences on your self-esteem. Recognizing your strengths may take a real effort on your part but it is worth it. When you identify your strengths you will feel more confident in yourself and your ability to succeed. Attend this session to:
*Listen how successful women have overcome their weaknesses
*Find out your own personal strengths and weaknesses
*Discover how you can use your strengths to help you compensate for your weaknesses
Moderator:
Kashay Hampton, Center Director, Higher Achievement
Speakers:
Rea J. Harrison, Attorney, Beveridge & Diamond
Jennifer Schumpert, Motivational Speaker, Unleashing Potential Inc.
Program Coordinator, Ministry Development, Volunteers of America
Patricia Williams, Education & Motivational Speaker
Session 2: Your Future Career: Getting What You Want Out of Your Life!
Choosing the correct school and program and then a successful career in today’s environment can be a challenging task…especially for a young girl. The pressure to get the perfect job can be overwhelming. Through this session, realize what will make you stick out and be noticed! Learn skills from successful women on how to dress for success, write a resume, interview, and prepare for a promising career.
Come watch this engaging 4-Act session to:
- Discover real life techniques that make employers want YOU
- Acquire tools that will take you to the top
- Meet and engage with successful girls including Miss DC International!
Speakers:
Kimberly K. Egan, Partner, DLA Piper
Kathleen Wiederman, Attorney & Senior Privacy Analyst U.S.
Department of Homeland Security/FEMA- Front Rowe Inc.
Christine Clapp, President, Spoken with Authority
Rita Sinha, Executive Director, Miss Teen/Miss DC International
10:30 -11:00 am- Fitness Break: Fitness for Energy & Stress Relief
Join Personal Trainer and Coach Jenn Schwartz during the break learn how to incorporate exercise for energy gains and deal with stress in a productive way.
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11:00 am -12:30 pm- Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Session 3: Celebrate Your Natural Beauty
When you take away make up, designer clothes and styled hair all you are left with is your true natural and inner beauty. We’re constantly bombarded with society telling us what is beautiful that when we compare ourselves to that elevated standard of beauty it can be hard to be happy about ourselves. It’s time to embrace your own unique features and glow with the natural beauty each one of us possesses. Join this session to:
*Find out how to be proud of your own unique natural beauty
*Learn about different ways to take care of your body
*Hear from women on how they learned to appreciate their own natural beauty
Moderator:
Lauren Fraracci, Program Coordinator, National Young Leaders State Conference
Speakers:
Tiffany Green, Graduate Student, Counseling Psychology, Howard University
Motivational Speaker, Unleashing Potential, Inc.
Charlene Jean-Pierre, Care Coordination Nurse, Department of Health and Human Services
Susan Parker, Consultant, Motivational Speaker & Author of "Walking in The Deep End"
Session 4: Setting Goals for Your Future: Becoming a Trail-Blazer
In five years, where will you be in your life? Every day you are making choices that are shaping who you will become and the direction of your early adult life. It is never too early to start thinking about your future and how you are going to get there. You will have challenges along the way but with a good plan you will be able to meet them head on. In this session you will:
*Discover how goal setting is an important part of career planning process
*Learn techniques to help you map how to get where you would like to be in your life
*Hear from women on how they got to where they are now
Speakers:
Ari Rapkin Blenkhorn, Managing Director & co-owner, Two Lights Technologies, LLC
Director of Technology & co-owner, CoreGuard, LLC
Co-owner, 2910 Commons LLC
Math & SAT Tutor, Northern Virginia Tutoring Service
Miranda Harwell, Executive Director, Community Financial Education Foundation
Amanda Lewis, Miss DC International
Charlotte Sellmyer, Deputy Press Secretary, Judiciary Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives
12:30 – 2:00 pm- Self-Esteem: Just As I Am- Luncheon
In this presentation you will explore how to develop and maintain self-esteem by overcoming challenges. Achieving happiness and reaching goals is not about the absence of challenges, it is your response to them that matters. By making these critical choices, you will develop a stronger sense of self:
Are you cause or effect? Are you a giver or taker? Are you challenger or conformer?
Participants will learn to recognize and take control of these three critical life choices when confronting obstacles of any proportion by making a commitment to not be at the mercy of their challenges but choose to shape their challenges to enable them to still find happiness and achieve goals.
In this presentation you will:
*Develop self esteem by overcoming challenges confidently
*Understand power choices play in your life and how it effects your ability to achieve happiness and success
*Maintain a positive attitude through difficult challenges
Speakers:
Katherine Marie Glanz, B.A. in Political Science and Anthropology, Southwestern University
Barbara F. Merola, Professional Speaker & Trainer
2:00 – 2:30 pm- Advocacy Break: Learn How You Can Make a Difference
Then come meet Morgan Wittman, the winner of the International Youth Advocate of the Year Award for the
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. She will answer your questions and tell you her story of success.
Click here to watch her Awesome Youtube video!
2:30 – 4:00 pm- Concurrent Breakout Sessions
Session 5: Self Discovery- Learning From Your Journey
Self discovery is a life lasting journey to discover what makes you flourish, that thing that makes you sit on the edge of your seat eager to know more. You’re shaped through learning from past experiences and mistakes. Your discovery is built through taking the initiative in finding yourself through activities such as the arts to express creativity, exercising to focus your mind, and encouraging yourself to try new things. Each one of us has to find your own definition of happiness, and choose the path you desire to live. In this session you will:
*Hear from women about how they discovered their individual purpose and interests
*Find out how contributing to our world will in turn help you discover yourself
*Learn how to identify and prioritize what’s important in your own life
Moderator:
Sarah Nardella, Program Coordinator, National Youth Leadership State Conference
Speakers:
Natalya Pestalozzi, Personal Life Coach
Lynura Jones, Engineer, Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Meera Al Farh, Student, University of Michigan
Lynura Jones, Engineer, Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
“You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need."- Jerry Gillies
Session 6: Money Smart: Knowing how to control your money so it doesn't control you!
Teenagers are active consumers. They spent $175 billion in 2003 with 21% of teens having their own credit card or access to a parents’ card. This means they had an active role in making the average credit card debt per U.S. household over $10,700 in 2008 (according to CardWeb.com). The economy can be a little scary right now but you don’t have to be overwhelmed if you understand the basics. Come to this interactive session and discuss the money topics you’re curious about. You’ll walk away smarter and knowing which topics you want to continue studying on your own. We’ll create the session as we go based on your questions but some of the options are:
*How to choose and keep a checking account
*What it means to pay yourself first and what it gets you in the long run
*How to make a credit card work for you
Speaker:
Leslie Stein, Facilitator , Trainer & Success Coach, Full Circle Inspiration, Inc.
Hilary A. Doe, National Director, Roosevelt Institute Campus Network
4:00-5:00 pm- How to Become a People Collector: Networking Skills
Your generation has virtual networking down to a science when it comes to Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. But what about live situations where you need to meet new people and want to create long lasting ties. And once you have this collection of people how can they help you and you help them in the future. It can be nerve wrecking to walk into a room full of people you don’t know. Come to this session and you will:
*Learn what Networking is and how to apply it in your life
*Hear Networking Success Stories
*Participate in an interactive networking activity
Speakers:
Melanie Kadlic Meren, CEO, MKM Strategies, LLC
Juli Monroe, Networking and Business Coach, 1 to 1 Discovery
Janay Carpenter, Motivational Speaker, Mentor, Life Coach, Author
Danielle White, Government Affairs Representative, Sempra Energy
Melanie Spring, Principal & Project Director, Sisarina Inc
5:00 – 6:30 pm Mentor Reception CLICK HERE FOR INVITATION
Now that you’ve learned about Networking it is time to put your skills to the test. Join this celebratory reception to connect with local successful women of Washington, DC
Special Cupcakes provided by Powdered Sugar Baked Goods by Lauren Fraracci
Special Guests Include:
Amanda Lewis, Miss DC International
Major Cheri L. Atkins, U.S. Army
Juliana Mckee, Miss Teen DC International
Karen Gruebnau, Vice President, GMMB
Nicole Shue, Lieutenant Commander, US Navy
Chelsey Rodgers, Founder, Brains & Beauties
Judge Mary Terrell, Founder, High Tea Society
Marjorie Clifton, Co-Founder & Director, Next Step
Rupa Mohan, Founder, The Babe Within
Lauren Collier, First runner up to Miss Virginia 2006
Alicia R. Hughes, City Council Member, Alexandria, Virginia
Michelle Rodgers, America's Junior Miss
Hope Wiseman, Miss District of Columbia's Outstanding Teen 2009
Brenda Meister, Partner, DLA Piper
Marlene M. Colucci, Executive Vice President, American Hotel & Lodging Association