Collegiate Curls' 3rd Annual National Conference
- Alyssa Washington
- Sep 18, 2019
- 2 min read
Collegiate Curls held its third annual National Conference at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina on August 2. This year’s conference was the first time the organization ever opened the event up to all members of the organization and opened to the public.
This year’s theme for the conference was “Passion Breeds Purpose.” There were many sessions and speakers centered around the theme. Some speakers included:
Tamika Gadson, activist and content creator for the Charleston Activist Network, who ran a session titled “Create Your Own Legacy.”
Ashley Ford, entrepreneur and owner of Texturs Hair Care LLC, who ran a session titled “Healthy Hair on a Budget.”
Mikayla Morris, CCU alumna, who hosted a session titled “Leadership in White Spaces.”
Elaina Ruth, chef and nutritionist, who hosted a session titled “You Are What You Eat?!”
The keynote speaker was Alex Roberts, founder of The Ace Firm, a public relations agency based in Charleston, S.C. She spoke about how her passion bred her purpose into creating her own firm.
The conference also featured vendors like Always Gift Baskets, Sugar Lou’s Bakery and Manall and a plant-based lunch created by FairyFresh Foods.
Sponsors of the event included Uncle Funky’s Daughter, Design Essentials, tgin and ApHogee.
The conference was concluded by an awards brunch with some representatives of sector leadership.
Aleah Johnson, Collegiate Curls of CofC member, spoke of her experience at the conference.
“This is my first national conference that I’ve been able to attend,” Johnson said. “It’s very inspiring. I didn’t expect to get so much that I was kind of searching for. I gained a lot of inspiring things through the conference.”
Brittany Hunter, president of Collegiate Curls of Johnson & Wales University, said she loved her conference experience. “This is my first conference and first time in Charleston so it’s like a whole new experience,” Hunter said. “The interactions with other sectors I feel was very important and beneficial. I was able to make different connections and be able to interact with everyone.”
Tamazha Pilson, National Vice President of Collegiate Curls, spoke about the changes from the first conference to this year’s conference.“I think this year’s been our most successful year thus far,” said Pilson.
“We were able to open it to all members of Collegiate Curls and the public instead of just having exec board members. With that, we were able to have more topics available and we did breakout sessions and had other speakers come in. I feel like it was more interactive and more high energy.”
Overall, the conference would not have been possible without the help and assistance from all of the presenters, vendors, volunteers, members, sponsors, and speakers.
What’s in store for Collegiate Curls on a national level?
“Overall, we want to do more events that bring all the sectors together, so there will be more bonding and more of what worked and what didn’t,” said Pilson. “There’s always room to grow. It’s really important for us to build a sense of community.”
Can’t wait for next year’s conference! For this academic school year always remember that passion breeds purpose!
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