The 60 young women selected to participate in the Summit are from Confluence Academy, Vashon High School, The Covenant House and the Urban League.

The Summit will feature motivational speakers, mentoring sessions and panel discussions designed to empower young women to success. Keynote speakers include Angela R. Lewis, assistant coach at St. Louis Surge Women’s Basketball Team; Tracie Berry McGhee, motivational speaker and founder of SistaKeeper Empowerment Center; and Naretha Hopson, founder and Certified Etiquette Instructor at Ever Appropriate Etiquette Institute.
Breakout sessions and panel discussions will focus on conflict resolution and women in business.

Other speakers include Mrs. Betty Thompson, former State Representative and Tyrone Thompson’s mother; Beth Braznell, candidate for Democratic 15th Ward Alderman. Wild 104.9 radio personality Arika Parr will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies.

The Tyrone Thompson Institute for Nonviolence, funded by the Kwame Foundation, offers a new approach to school suspensions, which often lead to poor academic performance, lost school funding and an increase in juvenile delinquency and dropouts. Through the program, St. Louis Community College students tutor and mentor suspended students in the St. Louis Public School District, through eighth grade. Parents learn parenting skills at required one-day workshops.
“The outcome of the Tyrone Thompson Institute for Nonviolence program is a mastery of peaceful conflict resolution strategies,” said Yolonda Lankford, executive director of the Kwame Foundation. “When students learn these tools, we see an increase in self esteem and awareness, which leads to improvements in school attendance, discipline and graduation rates.”

The St. Louis American © February 2015