WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — This Saturday, the city of Williamsport will host its first Night of Empowerment. The event will feature conversations with six prominent Black professionals at the Community Arts Center in the city.
"We are bringing Black professionals in, in honor of Black History Month, to Williamsport. This is to empower our students, help them network, and make connections," said Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter.
The event is free to attend. Along with an open panel discussion, the event will include a networking session for high school and college students.
"This is very neat because I am in my senior year, and I am looking for an internship, and this is a great opportunity to network to get that internship or to help with the start of a potential career," said Ashlee Massey, a senior at Penn College.
"We all know the next step after college is going into the workforce or creating your own working opportunities. None of that can be done without networking or connecting with people," said Jordan Golding, a junior at Lycoming College.
"I think it is going to be great to hear their professional experience, what they have learned in their careers, and be able to share that with folks in attendance on Saturday night," added Slaughter.
Jordan Golding and Ashlee Massey are the presidents of the Black Student Unions at Penn College and Lycoming College. They are going to be responsible for moderating the event's open panel discussion.
"Very special that I get to be a part of bringing some enlightenment to the general group through the questions I can ask," Golding said.
"It is a little scary, but it is very beneficial to me. It is giving me that leadership opportunity to show everybody that you can do it even if you don't know how to speak well in front of a large group of people," Massey said.
More details about the event can be found here.
Check out WNEP's YouTube channel.