2025 Black Girls Dream Conference: Celebrating Black Joy

June 6th & 7th, 2025

Over the past weekend, She Soars had the opportunity to participate in the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium’s 2025 Black Girls Dream Conference. We were among the hundreds of people who came from states all over the southern United States. The conference had a “She Got Next” theme, celebrating future leadership and creativity - encouraging attendees to dream big.

She Soars interacted with attendees through our vendor table. On one side of the table, we had various resources for people to take such as youth created flyers and  information about our 24/7 crisis text line. The other side of the table had activities that provided the opportunity for participants to share their thoughts. The first activity was a prize wheel, where participants would spin the wheel and land on a word, in order to win their prize they had to complete an action or answer a question relating to that word. 

Attendees could also interact with She Soars by responding to three posters that we hung up next to our table. Each poster had a prompt relating to mental health, the prompts were as follows:

#1: What is something you would say to a friend who is struggling? 

#2: What is one word that comes to mind when you think of mental health?

#3: What are you grateful for?

The activities at our table were meant for attendees to have a moment of reflection about their mental health, as well as the things that brought them joy. 

The She Soars team - Kennedi (17), Kolette (14), and Siler (20) - took an active role in the conference. While we interacted with attendees at our vendor table, we also took time to attend the sessions and workshops offered. 

On the first day, we attended the opening session where we were welcomed by the Southern Black Girls Youth Ambassadors. We had the opportunity to hear the Executive Director, Chanceé Lundy, talk about why the Southern Black Girls organization was important to her. The session then moved into a panel with the Southern Black Girls founders, where they discussed the start of the organization, the significance of community, and the desired result of the conference itself. They explained how they wanted us to walk away empowered, connected, and understood. 

The opening session set the tone for the rest of the conference, leaving us with the question, “how can you be a purposeful, powerful, and joyful leader?” 

During the conference there were a myriad of workshops and sessions available, all focused on personal and professional growth. Our team attended the “Relax and Refresh with Lush Cosmetics” workshop where we got to create our own bath bombs, received sample items, and spoke with employees about the creation behind different products. This session reminded us of the importance of self care and pampering, that taking care of our physical health can help improve our mental health. 

We also attended a session on healthy relationships. During this session we were given a worksheet and were guided by the speaker on categorizing the people in our lives to help us think through if our everyday relationships were positive, supportive, and helping us towards our growth. The speaker touched on the importance of having people who show up, and how having encouraging people in your life can uplift you. She stressed the importance of being self-aware and explained how sometimes we can be a negative person in another person's life or even our own. This session taught us that we must hold ourselves accountable and to strive for growth.

The Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium was started out of frustration from the lack of funding and support going towards the dreams of Black women and girls in the south. Over 50% of the Black population in the U.S. lives in the south and less than 1% of the $4.8 billion philanthropic investments go to Black women and girls in the south. 

Southern Black Girls is a collective organization that focuses on philanthropy, activism, and movement. They have given over 800 #BlackGirlJoy Challenge awards and 220 grants to Black woman-led organizations (totaling to $10.2 million). In addition to their philanthropic efforts, Southern Black Girls is cultivating community and joy through their Youth Ambassadors, Wisdom Council, and their Dream Conferences. Please visit the Southern Black Girls website to learn more about their mission and upcoming events! 

We are so grateful to have been part of this community, and we look forward to participating next year. Thank you, Southern Black Girls!

Keep up with us through the She Soars social medias for resources, future events, and more!

Written by Siler Wooster and Kennedi Robinson