By NICOLE REICHWALD | Special to the Palisadian-Post
Nearly 1,000 young women—as well as some young men—in grades 7-12 throughout Los Angeles attended Brentwood School’s third annual It’s Our Turn: Young Women’s Conference (YWC) on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Brentwood’s YWC is a conference created by Brentwood students for young women all over the city.
The planning committee was comprised of 65 students from grades 10-12 including myself, as well as faculty and staff.
We started planning this event over six months ago and to see it come to fruition and run seamlessly was a dream come true.
The conference not only inspired and empowered me to go out and work for what I want, but it also did the same for many of the other young women who attended the event.
Throughout the jam-packed day, we had many incredible speakers including Honorary Chair and former Palisadian Maria Shriver, Palisadian cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Kathy Magliato, Olympic gold medalists Alison Felix and Jordyn Wieber, supermodel Cindy Crawford, fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg, TV journalist Jessica Yellin, confidence expert Jess Weiner, Los Angeles Clippers executive Gillian Zucker, CEO of Hudson Jeans Peter Kim and many more.
Taylor Trudon, the Voices editor at MTV, was also at the event live tweeting to MTV’s 4 million followers.
I was fortunate enough to introduce Shriver and Crawford as well as moderate a panel with Rylee Ebsen, creative director at Snapchat (founded by former Palisadian Evan Spiegel) and Google executive Julie Ann Crommett. Both women hold high positions in the tech world and in their respective companies.
Over the course of the day, there were three keynote sessions that included a combination of speeches, panels and interviews, as well as a series of breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon.
Topics from the breakout sessions included professional paths, self-expression, identity and body image, social media empowerment, relationships and transforming stereotypes.
Young women attending the conference took pictures with the FIFA Women’s World Cup, enjoyed a concert at lunch by Caitlin Evanson and Kennedy Tracy and ate sweet treats from Susie Cakes.
For more information, visit Instagram at @bws_itsourturn, Twitter @bws_itsourturn and the “It’s our Turn” Facebook page.
Palisadian Nicole Reichwald is a senior at Brentwood School.
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