|  The
Young Leaders Empowerment Sequence is a project
of the Training Institute for Leadership Enrichment
which is operated by Black Women Organized for Political
Action.
“We want to train the future
leaders of Black America,” said LaNiece Jones,
executive director, BWOPA. “There is a need
to reach out to the younger generation and give them
a voice and a stake in the future.”
In May, a series of workshops were
held for Bay Area Black high school and college students.
The topics included healthcare, education, public
safety and economic empowerment for Black communities.
On August 25th, BWOPA hosted its
11th Annual Salute to Sisterhood Awards Ceremony called
“BWOPA/TILE Honors Ten Financial Freedom Fighters”
at Jeffrey’s Inner Circle in Oakland.
The
following outstanding individuals received awards:
• Pat Scates, Sr. VP, Wells
Fargo Mortgage, Regional Manager for East Bay Commercial
Banking Office and President of the Port of Oakland;
• Renee Johnson, United Financial
Processing Group, Principle owner and broker in Vallejo,
Solano County handling residential and commercial
mortgage business
• Denise Smith, Royal Realtors
Real Estate and Mortgage, Principle owner and broker
of an East Bay based commercial and residential real
estate group and active community leader
• Mary Lee Widener, Neighborhood
Housing Services of America Co-Founder and Chief Executive
Officer of the Neighborhood Housing Service of America
• Cheryl Evans, CITIBANK, Director
of Community Relations for Citibank North America’s
Western Division with 20-years experience in banking
and community development
• Cheryl McDonald, Wells Fargo
Bank 20-year veteran in community banking and development,
and founding board of director and past president
of Citizen Housing Corporation of San Francisco
• Cheryl Broussard, Author,
Entrepreneur and Registered Investment Advisor Author
of three bestsellers and creator of Sister CEO Boot
Camp and The Ms. Money Millionaire Financial Boot
Camp
• LaTanya White, Washington
Mutual, only executive level African-American woman
at Washington Mutual in the Bay Area
• Zain McKinney, Deloitte &
Touche In September, a small group of young people
will head to Washington, D.C. to meet with media,
labor leaders, lobbyists, community activists, and
policy makers including elected officials.
Many
had already gone to Sacramento for a similar outing.
The final part of the YLES Series will be held in
October during an Oakland conference with leaders
and young people from across the state. They will
also network with clergy, labor, and corporate leaders
as well as representatives from the media, political
organizations and other community-based groups. |
