‘At The Well’ Hosts 2024 Leadership Program For Teen Girls

Actress Nicole Ari Parker and Emmy Award-winning producer Nikole Hannah-Jones are scheduled speakers for this year's leadership program.

The At The Well Young Women’s Leadership Academy continues its work to empower and nurture the leaders of tomorrow.

Scheduled to take place from July 16 to July 29, 2024, at the Erdman Center, Princeton Theological Seminary, the prestigious program promises to be a transformative experience for its selected participants. According to At The Well Conferences, Inc.’s official website, this year’s two-week leadership program seeks to equip young minority girls with the essential tools required to become successful leaders. Targeting scholars entering the eleventh and twelfth grades from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, ATW aims to cultivate a generation of trailblazers who will positively impact their communities.

Through a comprehensive intensive, the program’s multifaceted curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including leadership development, critical reading and writing, study skills, time management, financial literacy, and the art of cultivating healthy relationships. Participants not only hone their academic abilities but also develop the confidence and resilience necessary to navigate the challenges of leadership.

Renowned professionals from various fields, including actress Nicole Ari Parker and Emmy-winning producer Nikole Hannah-Jones, are scheduled as speakers to share their experiences and impart invaluable wisdom with this year’s youth participants. Workshop facilitators, drawn from diverse professions such as medicine, law, finance, entertainment, and the non-profit sector, will serve as role models and offer guidance on topics ranging from body image and entrepreneurship to health and wellness.

The vision behind ATW is deeply personal for its founder, Jacqueline Glass Campbell. Inspired by her daughter’s experience as one of two African American girls in her graduating class, Campbell sought to curate a space for girls of color to embrace leadership and break free from the isolation often felt in predominantly white academic settings. In 2019, Campbell told Princeton Theological Seminary her desire was to “give gifted girls of color a platform to come together and encourage one another.” She explained that “most of them come from spaces where they’re the only black girl in their AP class, and that can be isolating at times.”

The Princeton Theological Seminary alum shared at the time that the program’s name, “At The Well,” was inspired by a Bible story from the book of John, “when a woman comes to the well for water” and leaves in a different state than she came. “It was an educational encounter, and one that transforms her,” the ATW founder said. “That’s what we seek. We want girls to be impacted by the history of women who looked like them, and then go home and become the change that’s needed in the community where they live.”

As previously covered by BLACK ENTERPRISE, At The Well welcomed hundreds of Black teen girls to apply for its 2023 program.

The application deadline for this year’s two-week At The Well Young Women’s Leadership Academy program is March 31, 2024, and participants will be selected through a competitive process.