Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA) student and Jamaica Plain resident Imanie Sampson won a video contest at the Massachusetts Conference for Women on Dec. 4. Among those congratulating her in person were former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o.
Sampson, a 17-year-old senior at BCLA, won the conference’s video contest about the “ripple effect of women helping women.” Her video talked about how, after attending last year’s Conference for Women, she became involved with service agency BuildON. That organization took her and classmate Andrea Novelle-Ruddy to the African nation of Malawi on a service trip.
Held at the Boston Convention Center, the Massachusetts Conference for Women is an annual conference that attracts about 10,000 attendees and is aimed at improving women’s access to leadership roles and supporting those already there.
“It’s basically an overall group of women coming together to move forward with the support of other women,” BCLA Program Administrator Janet Ferone told the Gazette. Ferone is one of Sampson’s teachers, and the one responsible for bringing the girls to the conference in the first place.
This year’s keynote speakers were Clinton and Nyong’o, who both requested to meet Sampson personally and eventually mentioned her in both their speeches.
Sampson won $1,000 as well as VIP seats for the keynote speeches and other prizes because of her video for the “Share Your Story” contest. In it, she talks about how her experience at last year’s conference motivated her and emotionally supported her through her challenging service trip in Malawi.
“Imanie is a student who grew up in the city, not with a lot of means, not with any idea that one day Hillary Clinton would be requesting to meet her,” Ferone said. “Since coming to BCLA, she’s really found herself.”
“This experience, being recognized for who she is, is really going to give such a broader vision of what she can do in life,” she added.
(from left) Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Janet Ferone, Boston Community Leadership Academy program administrator, congratulate Imanie Sampson at the Massachusetts Conference for Women. (Courtesy Photo)