A Dynamic Panel of Award Winning Advocates and Authors Call for Leadership, Mentoring, and Investment in Young People on Capitol Hill.

From Left to Right: Fatima Shahbaz, Bishop Corletta Vaughn, Leylah Simone Grimes, Bishop Shirley Holloway, Angelle B. Kwemo, H.E. Omar Arouna, Bershan Shaw, and Mocho Ochoa Nana.

The Honorable Bobby L. Rush served as the honorary host of an exemplary panel of women writers and advocates who had gathered to discuss mentoring, leadership, and the importance of investing in young people on Capitol Hill on Tuesday July 5, 2017.  The event titled “Unleashing Our Youth’s Potential”included Bershan Shaw, Author and Leadership and Business Coach from the Oprah Winfrey Network, Bishop Coletta Vaughn, Author from the Oxygen Network Preachers of Detroit and Fatherhood Initiative Advocate, Bishop Shirley Holloway, Author, and Anti-Poverty and Homelessness Advocate, Angelle Kwemo, Author, Managing Partner at Washington Media Group and of Believe In Africa, and the event was moderated by Mocha Ochoa Nana, Chief Strategist at the Oracle Group International.

Panel of the Distinguished Speakers

“The time is far spent and we are long overdue in mentoring tomorrows leaders on how to affect and create change”, says Ms. Kwemo “It is up to us to invest in the development of young people, and to be transparent with our successes and failures, so perhaps their journey to reaching their full potential will not take as much time as ours did.”

Angelle B. Kwemo

The youngest speaker, 9 year old Leylah Simone Grimes from the Stop Bullying Club, closed the program by sharing her own personal story of how having a mentor inspired her to start the Anti-Bullying campaign that through a partnership with her Mayor will be replicated throughout her community. Omar Chinmoun (Embassy of Cameroon), Karim Soumana (Embassy of Niger), Steve Richer (Primapact), Bah-Pna Dahane Ndaba (Mandela representative), and many other leaders were in attendance.