By MARJORIE BROWN
KENNESAW,
Ga.
– According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, to empower is “to promote the
self-actualization or influence of” a person. That was what Ashley Johnson had
in mind when creating the Successful, Helpful, Empowerment Organization at Kennesaw
State University on April 13, 2013.
S.H.E. Organization is a student run KSU
volunteer program that aims to encourage women empowerment and youth
development within the community according to S.H.E. President Kameron Buckner.
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| Kameron Buckner, Photo by Kameron Bucker |
“Our mission to empower and inform women
of all ages and backgrounds by providing them with the knowledge, confidence,
and tools to succeed in today’s society,” said Buckner.
Organization Startup
When first transferring to KSU from
the University of West Georgia, Johnson was looking for an organization that
met her needs of building a community
for female KSU students. When Johnson couldn’t find an organization that met
her needs, she decided to take action.
“If you don’t like something; change it!
Or in my case, create it! The rest is history,” said Johnson via email.
After asking women, including President
Buckner, if they wanted to create an organization, Johnson went to the KSU
Student Life & SABAC (http://kennesaw.edu/studentsuccess/sabac.shtml)
to start the process of creating an organization at KSU.
“It took a lot of time to form a
constitution and decide how things should go. Realistically, we made a bunch of
mistakes in the beginning,” said Johnson. “It was all worth it. Today, we are
bigger and better.”
Programs
S.H.E. Organization has been able
to take their mission and implement it with students in the East Cobb area.
Their biggest program is the Dream Girls program (Dream
Girls: Creating A Difference For Young Girls) where the organization goes
to East Cobb Middle School and mentors a group of young girls after school.
S.H.E has also gotten involved on
campus at KSU. Buckner says that the organization has partnered with the poetry
club at KSU for a poetic justice talk. This event brought together
African-American women to openly speak about issues they face as
African-American women.
Another KSU event that the
organization was involved in was a field day event the organization created to
bond with other organizations around campus according to Halle Cross. Cross has
been a member of the S.H.E. organization for two years and has been a big part
of the Dream Girls mentoring program.
Future Goals
The future is endless for the
S.H.E. organization. Currently, the organization is working on becoming an
official non-profit program.
Johnson is also looking to expand the
program to more than just middle school girls. Johnson’s ideas include
expanding programs to high school and incoming freshmen students. Another
expansion that Johnson would like to
make is creating an annual conference for teens.
“Our plan is to empower women of all
ages through our programs and initiatives,” said Johnson.
Buckner would also like to see the
program extend beyond just East Cobb Middle School young girls. Buckner would
like to see the programs in libraries to expand their reach to young girls all
over the Cobb County area.
For more information on the S.H.E.
Organization and their programs, visit their website (https://kennesaw.collegiatelink.net/organization/SHE).
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