[URIS id=20594]

Stirring an audience of roughly 350 young women, Monroe College hosted its 4th annual female empowerment event, intended to boost confidence, challenge female stereotypes and inspire young women.

The largely minority crowd, exclusively young women, packed Mintz Auditorium to hear motivational stories from other women whose personal stories on climbing the corporate ladder and attaining a measure of success served as a seed for their own self-empowerment. They also heard from Fox 5 anchor and radio personality Lisa Evers, who delivered the keynote speech.

“The idea is to tell a story, share your story with other young people so they could know that even though they’re going through a tough situation there is hope,” said Dr. Cecil Wright, Monroe College’s dean of admissions, who conceived the idea three years after organizing a men’s empowerment workshop that continues today.

For the Bronx, confidence building workshops seem to fill a mentorship gap for young people, a bellwether stage in life. A report by County Health Rankings shows there are 233,880, or 64 percent, of Bronx homes with only one parent, making mentoring a critical part to an adolescent’s upbringing.

“Girls get lost whether it be over boys, family issues, school issues, so they kind of always need a mentor,” said Lindsay Rosen, assistant dean of admissions for the school.

Young women were also reminded to steer clear of image-driven social media tools, which could drastically create negative perceptions. It’s one reason organizers espoused the theme of “Be You,” and avoid “the fake bodies, the Photoshops and the big images.”

“We want girls to actually express themselves and be themselves,” said Rosen. “And be you.”

Soaking in that theme was Beatrice Kobi, 16 of Truman High School in Baychester.

“I’ve learned to actually believe in myself and who I am and not to always think about how others see me as,” said Beatrice, who aspires to become a mathematician.

Sitting next to her was Magdalene Cofie, 19, a fellow classmate who aspires to become a lawyer. “As long as you believe in yourself and you build up yourself then you can stand she said,” said Magdalene.

Students learned about the program from already established relations with Monroe College. For Patty Markus, a guidance counselor at Felisa Rincon de Gautier Institute for Law & Public Policy, it’s a can’t-miss event that will lead them to “open up their minds, open up their hearts and their horizon.”

“This is very important for kids to see that there are people out here that do wonderful things and have great educations,” said Markus who had 26 students out there.

“We’re hoping they could see possibilities and that there’s more than just their surroundings,” said Catia Cosme, an academic counselor at the same school.

Next month, mentors from the workshop will host their students for a luncheon.

“We’ve had mentors who’ve come back to mentor who attended these events years ago,” said Wright. “So it’s a pay forward.”