NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - To celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, a local leadership program is hosting a virtual discussion between local girls and activist, Claudia Romo Edelman.
Unreasonable Kids College is an organization based in Newport News teaching kids and teenagers to become leaders by giving them access to high-level executives from various fields.
Founder Ateba Whitaker is a former Nike executive and tells News 3 for International Women's Day she wanted to empower local girls and women to change the world and to "choose to challenge" stereotypes.
Edelman is a former Chief of Advocacy for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and founder of We Are All Human, an organization promoting diversity and inclusion around the world.
"She's going to teach our girls how to be powerhouses. The whole idea is to teach girls how to lead from the front. Not the back, the side, but from the front and so we're so excited about International Women's Day and this event," Whitaker said.
The hour-long discussion begins at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 8 and is free. Whitaker says she wanted the event to be open to as many girls as possible no matter where they live or how much money they have.
"When I was growing up, I didn't have opportunities for tools like this to learn how to be a leader. I kind of fell into leadership at Nike," she said. "My goal is to inspire my kids to learn how to lead at a young age so when they're adults, they will be great leaders and we are in such a need for great leaders right now."
To register for the discussion, go to the Unreasonable Kids College Registration page, look under 'Camps/Events' for March 8 and click the event.
