On Sunday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms welcomed over 400 attendees of the Power Rising 18 Summit to the City of Atlanta. “Your voices are being heard and your power is being felt across this city,” said.
More than 1,000 women attended the three-day inaugural event, which was held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in downtown Atlanta. They listened to workshops, seminars and daily speeches about knowing your worth, affirmations on success and how to empower themselves.
Some heavy-hitters in many industries were in attendance, including TV personality Star Jones, LaToia Jones, director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement for Hustle, former Democratic National Committee COO Minyon Moore and Nakisha Lewis, founder of the social justice organization, SheWoke.org.
Karen Finney, a political strategist and former spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, said planning the conference was event “a labor of love.”
“It’s a real testament to how black women can come together,” she told NBC News. “There are a whole range of issues — health care, access to capital — that impact black women that either aren’t being discussed, or are sublimated to a larger conversation. We want to strategize and create an actionable agenda that people can take back to their communities.”
The summit grew out of a brainstorm from some women of color in Congress.
Leah Daughtry, an evangelist who was also a lead organizer of Power Rising, told the crowd that the summit came together because of their faith. “All we had was an idea, no money,” she said at Sunday’s closing session, according to the Washington Post. “Those of you who are here are the brave ones. The ones who said, ‘We don’t know who the speakers are. We don’t know what time it starts. All we know is, it’s in Atlanta, and it’s going to be some black women, so we’re going!’ I appreciate you,” she tearfully added.