If the year of 2019/2020 was focused on restarting this chapter, then this year is focused on regrowing the chapter! 
We have restarted our beloved newsletter which will provide information on Spelman, NAASC, the chapter, and will highlight a Spelman owned business each month. If you want access to this newsletter, email the chapter at bostonnaasc@gmail or fill out the information form on this website.

Do you remember your first time talking to a Spelman representative at a college fair? If your experience was anything like mine, you walked into a large auditorium with dozens of tables lined up with different colleges from across the country. Maybe you walked up to the Spelman table on your own volition or maybe your parent "strongly" encouraged to; either way, this experience had an impact on you, as it continues to have an impact on young women of color across the country.

It's Fall, which means there are dozens of college fairs and request for Spelman alumnae across the state, and we are representing our alma mater with class and pride. Recruiting for Spelman is one of the core purposes of the chapter, and quite honestly, extremely fun. Many young women of color still have not heard of HBCUs, and being the one to tell that young student that there is a place designed just for her is rewarding.  If you are interested in representing Spelman in the Boston area, please email us at [email protected] to find out more.

Queen Pilar Symone, Vice President, and Founder and CEO of Empower Our Crown
Pilar was raised in Boston, MA with two biological sisters and many other sisters that she has formed lifetime bonds with over the years. She has always truly valued and committed herself to sisterhood. Thus, she graduated from Spelman College in 2014 with a B.A. in Psychology, where she expanded the number of sisters exponentially— sisters from all over the continental United States and abroad. 
 
Her experiences at Spelman and beyond, as well as her motivation for women’s empowerment, self-love and mental health, stimulated her love for self and others. Pilar has been running girls’ groups for the past decade, has been a “big sister” to young girls, and tutors and mentors teen girls at risk. For the past three years, Pilar has served as School Counselor and Mental Health Advocate to empower women and girls to achieve a healthy mind, body, and spirit. 
 
In 2017, Pilar created a platform for women and girls of color who shared the desire to develop self-love and self-confidence, as well as identify their God-given purpose. She launched the “Black Girl Magic Brunch” in June of 2017 and in December of 2018, which provides a safe space for women and girls of color to celebrate individuality and sisterhood, as well as to network and identify steps to build overall excellence.
 
Pilar is committed to walking in her truth, walking by faith, growing in self-love and loving others the way God loves all. She is dedicated to changing the narrative for women and girls of color by providing a space that inspires self-love, encourages self- growth, promotes unity, and advances individual and community prosperity. 

120 Girls. 20 Committee Members. 40 Facilitators. 8 Corporate Sponsors. 50 Individual Donors. 3 Days. Infinite Memories.  

The 10th Annual Blueprint Conference for Middle and High School Girls is a weekend like nothing else. From June 10th until June 12th, 2016 the campus of MIT was turned into a safe space for young women to talk, listen and share. More than 40 women of color volunteered their time to conduct workshops on mental and sexual health, self esteem, branding and entrepreneurship. Our young attendees laughed, danced, questioned and offered answers throughout the weekend. Here's a look at the weekend through both photos and videos.

​Patti O’Brien-Richardson is an author, professor, health researcher, and mom. Her career in health began in sub-Saharan Africa where she lived for over a decade studying health inequalities among women and children, working with families affected by HIV/AIDS, and managing inter-continental humanitarian projects for cities, communities and villages from Zambia to Madagascar.
 
As a social entrepreneur, Patti is the founder of Move it Nation, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower families to move their minds, bodies and souls. Patti is also the creator of “Move it-n-Groove it”, a childhood obesity prevention fitness curriculum and video series that has been used in over twenty-five schools, serving over 1,000 children in New York and Boston. She also teaches a course she helped develop entitled “Hair: Culture, Politics and Technology” at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

Patti is in the process of completing the final year of her doctoral program at Rutgers University where she studies cultural hair practices and physical inactivity among urban African-American girls. She recently started an afterschool program based on this research called GLAMM (Girls Leading and Moving More) that combines hair and health education with movement and leadership skills. In her spare time, Patti enjoys yoga, baking, biking and gardening with her four daughters, triplets plus one.

Patti, joined by her triplet daughters, will be our keynote speaker for the 10th Annual Blueprint Conference for Middle and High School Girls. We are excited to have Patti share her motivations and also how she's empowering her own girls to be future leaders. For the first time, we have expanded to an additional evening that will involve both parent/guardian and our conference attendees. Friday night will invite both parents and daughters to share questions, concerns and solutions through a night of open dialogue. 

To learn more about Patti's work, check out her blog or connect with her on social media at @moveitwithpatti.
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