Go Girl Conference empowered middle school girls

MILWAUKEE - Confidence, leadership skills and new friendships are just a couple of skills 200 middle school girls are taking home from Friday, June 2, the Go Girl conference at UWM.

Affirmations such as these are leaving with girls like Kimara Philips.

"I may not be to the best of everyone’s liking, but I am me," said Philips. "That’s the best I can be."

That's part of a poem Philips wrote during her 2nd year attending the Go Girls Conference.

"I think it was good bringing me back here because I get to learn about other girls that are coming here too," Philips said.

Founders of the Go Girl Conference said they started the event to help minority girls feel comfortable in their skin.

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"Black girls are what some people refer to as the bottom of the totem pole in terms of how they’re treated," said Jendayi Mbalia the founder of Go Girl. "And that’s just absolutely..we don't stand for that."

"This is a group that is sometimes ignored, so we also wanted to be preventative," Jovan Goodman, another founder of Go Girl, said. "A lot of our programs in the city are focused on teenagers, often reactionary, and so we think this is a population that is a lot of potential but not a lot of programming and funding targeted."

With 10 conference presenters and sponsors, they're able to provide the girls a full day of engagement and meals completely free. Organizers said they hope the girls leave with a new outlook on life.

"So that when they step back into society that unfortunately doesn’t value them, they feel so poured into so that they’re able to just propel themselves and take over the world and just go girl" said Mbalia.

Kimara Philips hopes more Milwaukee middle schoolers can come next year.

"I think it’s a good thing 'cause I know a lot of kids have it rough at home," said Philips.