Student from Houston’s Young Women’s Preparatory Academy (YWPA) to Interview Former UN Ambassador Susan Rice at 2020 National Coalition of Girls’ Schools Virtual Symposium
YWPA Junior Opeyemi Ogundele’s interview topics to include systemic racism, power of activism, importance of voting
(HOUSTON, TX) October 21, 2020 — Young Women’s Preparatory Academy Junior Opeyemi Ogundele is one of two students selected to interview former UN Ambassador Susan Rice in the closing address of the 2020 National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS) Virtual Symposium. Rice will discuss the unique challenges of growing up as a Black girl in America, the need to end systemic racism, and the importance of using one’s voice—and vote—to enact change. As a girls’ school graduate, Amb. Rice will also reflect on how her girls’ school experience impacted her leadership path.
Ogundele is a junior at Houston’s Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy (YWPA), which is part of Young Women’s Preparatory Network (YWPN), the largest network of all-girls, public, college preparatory schools in the nation. The interview will close out the symposium and Ogundele will be joined by fellow student Nisa Quarles, a senior at Amb. Rice’s alma mater, National Cathedral School in Washington D.C.
“We are so proud of Opeyemi and are thrilled she was selected for such a prestigious honor,” says YWPN CEO Lynn McBee. “Ambassador Rice is such an amazing advocate for women and all-girls schools in particular. This interview will serve as a wonderful tribute to the power of an all-girls school education and the voice girls and women have in our world. We know Opeyemi will do great.”
Amb. Rice has a storied career that includes 25 years of public service at the highest levels of the U.S. government, including serving as U.S. National Security Advisor and U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. under President Barack Obama.
About Young Women’s Preparatory Network
Founded in 2002 in Dallas, the Young Women’s Preparatory Network (YWPN) is a nonprofit agency that partners with public school districts across Texas to operate the largest network of all-girls, public, college preparatory schools in the nation. Our schools are located in struggling urban neighborhoods and have a proven track record of success, winning multiple academic achievement awards, most recently earning recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School. YWPN has schools in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio and Ysleta (El Paso) and serves nearly 5,000 young women annually. Because of the success of the first school in Dallas, the model is being replicated throughout the state as a catalyst for positive educational change.
Contact: Maureen Wiegert
(214) 929-4173
Maureen@allynmedia.com
