2:36pm | By Katie Virant, MSW | I am S.H.A.N.T.E. (Seeking Her Ambition Necessary to Excel) will graduate its first class of “I am STRONG” summer program participants on Thursday, October 13th at Manazar Gamboa Community Theater located at MacArthur Homeland Cultural Center. Sixth District Councilman Dee Andrews will give opening remarks and present certificates to the young women for their achievements. Dr. Lydia Hollie, I am S.H.A.N.T.E. board member and previous co-chair of the LBDHHS Weed and Seed Program with over twelve years of experience in addressing gang violence and healthy youth development in the Central Long Beach area, will present the keynote speech on “Overcoming Adversities to Excel”. I am S.H.A.N.T.E. graduates will present heartfelt speeches on obstacles they have had to overcome in their lives and how their involvement in I am S.H.A.N.T.E. has prepared them to excel.
I am S.H.A.N.T.E. works with adolescent girls from the under-served community of Central Long Beach, where the nonprofit 501c(3) organization offers transformative experiences that empower young women with the awareness, skills, and self-confidence essential to their success in overcoming adversities, seeking their ambitions, and achieving their goals. The nonprofit organization is proud to graduate fourteen adolescent girls and three youth interns from the Central Long Beach community, who completed a twelve-week summer program that included weekly meetings focused on the “Be Strong” female empowerment and healthy relationship curriculum, a “Sailing with Sisters” four-day fieldtrip, and three skill-building workshops. The workshop topics were inspired by the need Shante Broadus saw in educating young women today, and focused on “Image and Etiquette,” “Women’s Health and Teen Pregnancy Prevention,” and “Public Speaking”.
Shante Broadus founded I am S.H.A.N.T.E. with a passion to give back to adolescent girls living in underserved communities, who are facing many of the struggles she herself had experienced growing up in the high-poverty and historically violent community of Central Long Beach. Since marrying her husband, Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus at the young age of 20, Mrs. Broadus has since proven her strength to overcome adversity and excel as a mother of three, wife of an international entertainment star, and entrepreneur. Through the founding of I am S.H.A.N.T.E., Mrs. Broadus turned her name into an acronym that not only tells her story, but represents an objective women of all ages can relate to: Seeking Her Ambition Necessary to Excel.
Through the I am S.H.A.N.T.E. nonprofit organization, Mrs. Broadus is dedicated to supporting young women as they persevere and create their own path in life, no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them. When asked the inspiration behind founding the nonprofit, Mrs. Broadus explains, “I wanted to give back to young girls and provide them with an outlet to be supported and grow into strong and educated young women, who are the future mothers of our children. In this way, we are able to help our girls to become strong mothers to our future children, and strengthen the community for generations to come.” Shante Broadus funded the summer program, and to-date has contributed over $40,000 to sustain the organization and its programs. The next phase of programming involves matching I am S.H.A.N.T.E. participants to mentors in the community. If you are interested in mentoring a young woman from I am S.H.A.N.T.E., mentor interest forms are available online at iamshante.org. You may also visit the nonprofit Facebook page and follow on Twitter @I_AM_SHANTE.