Partnering with America’s Big Sisters Foundation, Moore School hosts full-day event to motivate K-12 girls

The Moore School hosted the 2024 All Girls Matter EmpowHERment Conference in partnership with America’s Big Sisters Foundation. Focusing on self-esteem and leadership, the event served more than 100 elementary-aged girls through high school teens.

The All Girls Matter EmpowHERment Conference mission includes creating opportunities for girls from varying environments and socioeconomics by uniting them through strategies to debunk negative stereotypes and influences. The event also helped the girls find mentorship and community engagement with leading women in Columbia, South Carolina.

The All Girls Matter events are hosted by America’s Big Sisters Foundation, which Tragil Wade-Johnson, an author and motivational speaker, founded in 2017. During the event, Wade-Johnson discussed her turbulent childhood, including her underprivileged upbringing on the Southside of Chicago, her mom’s incarceration and drug addiction and her time being homeless.

Also known as retired NBA star Dwayne Wade’s sister, Wade-Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree from Chicago State in elementary education and a minor in psychology. She has continued her life’s mission of supporting youth from challenging backgrounds by sharing her own story and providing resources and encouragement.

“I looked back on every hardship that looked like losing and eventually realized it was a matter of time before a win was going to come,” she said. “I am more than Dwayne Wade’s sister — you have to stay focused and believe in your faith and your team. You place the people around you to lift you up.”

The Moore School’s Office of Access, Opportunity and Community Engagement hosted the event with USC alumna, Markeshia Grant, ’12 psychology and ’17 M.Ed., who worked closely with Wade-Johnson to organize the EmpoweHERment Conference. A former Gamecock women’s basketball standout, Grant currently works as a motivational speaker and consultant for nonprofits in South Carolina.

“We want to empower you today — to leave feeling different than when you came,” Grant said during the event.

Representing the Moore School’s Office of Access, Opportunity and Community Engagement, Associate Dean Deborah Hazzard shared with the K-12 girls in attendance the opportunities the Moore School provides for underrepresented students, especially those from South Carolina.

Hazzard discussed her office’s programs, including Business Success Academy, Power Forward and Rising Scholars programs — high school and college talent pipeline programs serving South Carolina students.

“The Office of Access, Opportunity, and Community Engagement was thrilled to participate in this event,” Hazzard said. “We are eager to start brainstorming and planning pipeline programs for middle school students in South Carolina in the near future.”

The event included a parent panel, workshops and back-to-school initiatives. Young girls and their parents in attendance were from school districts throughout South Carolina.

Fifteen-year-old Emoree Simpson attended the All Girls Matter event with her parents and younger sister, Braelyn Simpson; they attend schools in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five.

 “I wanted to participate in the conference to get motivational words to start the school year,” Emoree Simpson said. “I also wanted to get tips from older ‘sisters’ attending the conference that would be helpful to me.”

The girls were split into groups for age-appropriate workshops, allowing each attendee to network with their peers.

“I thought EmpowHERment was put together well,” Emoree Simpson said. “The speakers were great, and I enjoyed sitting in classrooms with other girls my age. That was helpful and motivated me.”

While the goal of the workshops and speakers was to help the girls hone their social and professional skill sets, some of the workshops were trendy and fun to keep the younger attendees engaged.

Ten-year-old Braelyn Simpson was one of the younger girls in attendance at the event.

“I thought it was good because it motivated me,” Braelyn Simpson said. “I also learned special tips about skincare.”

An event that had something for all ages, EmpowHERment’s most important takeaway Wade-Johnson emphasized was the importance of powering through hardship.

“There’s a reason to do it. I hear of girls giving up with anxiety, depression and self-harm,” said Wade. “Look at all I would’ve missed if I’d given up. My motto is, ‘Keep watching, you will see a win sooner or later. Don’t give up.’”

-Christian Osborne