Women's Leadership Project

09/05/2026

WLP project director and actress Jessica Nicole on the filming of Alpha Centauri and addressing trafficking violations against Black girls Black August Film Festival

09/04/2026

Watch out for our new cabinet leaders, President London, VP Julie, Secretary Lielt, Treasurer Dalila and DEI advisor Josh!

08/27/2026

Welcome back to campus WLP youth leaders and educators forging new paths in gender and social justice activism, mentoring and critical literacy 🎉 congrats to our new Pres & VPs Z'aYN, Virginia, Julie and London 💯

08/22/2026

Last week, our film "Alpha Centauri", directed by Sikivu Hutchinson shot by Sika Afi Stanton centering a college-bound Black foster girl experiencing and overcoming s*x trafficking through friendship, self-determination and self-love, was screened Black August Film Festival  produced by the Pasadena African American Film Foundation. "Black August is an annual commemoration and prison-based holiday that honors freedom fighters and political prisoners, highlighting Black resistance against racial oppression". WLP project director and cast member Jessica Nicole and lead protagonist Nicole Delorme Delorme spoke on a community panel about the production as well as the importance of gender-based violence prevention education and were presented with an award for the film after the discussion! Shout out to Dr Dr. Ife Jie for her phenomenal track "Back in Time"💯 and Ori Jie making her film debut!

08/18/2026

This summer, WLP interns showed up, grew, created, and found their voices. We’re also proud to celebrate our scholarship awardees and all they’re doing to build brighter futures. 🫶🏾🌻🎤🐛🦋🎉

This reel captures just a glimpse of the joy, leadership, and sisterhood that made this summer special.

Your voice matters. Your future matters. We see you and believe in you.

08/18/2026

For our final Summer Program session, students wrote on the theme of "What Feminism Means to Me". They also contributed evocative poems about their experiences as Black girls challenging racism, s*xism and misogynoir in their everyday lives. As rising senior Laniyah McNeil notes in her first published piece:

"Walking into this program, I did not identify as a feminist, nor did I acknowledge topics of racism or s*xism, in the Black community. Not because I was ignorant, but because I thought, 'what could little ol' me know about activism, or speaking up?' I’ve always thought that it was best to keep my comments as thoughts because I was scared of being wrong or of others disagreeing with me. So, I sat back and watched things unfold, biting my tongue while overhearing my homeboys, and sometimes my cousins, having misogynistic conversations.

After joining WLP and learning about Ida B Wells, coping mechanisms, reading Hood Feminism, and learning about s*x trafficking, I am now leaving this program as a young Black feminist who encourages her friends to be open minded and have difficult conversations. I’ve become someone who speaks up for herself and for those who cannot speak for themselves."

Email from Women's Leadership Project WLP Community Updates, Articles, Videos WLP Summer Program Scribes: "What Feminism Means to Me" WLP Summer Program Youth Scribes with their journals! For our fin

08/13/2026

Our final summer program session wrapped last week. We were honored to have the Black q***r organization Earthlodge Center for Transformation lead a drum healing session with our youth. The session provided youth with musical and somatic engagement that provided an outlet for creativity and affirmation. We were also visited by journalist and community partner Abene Clayton from The Guardian newspaper. Abene interviewed students about their perspectives on gender-based violence against Black women and girls in Los Angeles for a forthcoming piece. We're grateful to all of the powerful Black girl youth leaders who participated in our first Crenshaw District summer program. Once again, a big shout out of thanks to our donor supporters, Black Freedom Fund  and the Black Girl Freedom Fund G4GC Carrie

08/09/2026

The July 2026 Music and Poetry Festival was a powerful convening of creativity, activism and holding space for Black women, Black girls, Black q***r youth and communities. The concert featured We are eternally grateful to all of the fierce artists, students, supporters, family and allies who came out to share in joy, community and remembrance.

Featured artists: Malina Moye Music , Mystical Joyride, Naomi Wilson, Sonja Marie, Tamia Elliott, AYEL, Javen Lara, Ella Faye, the Maurock Music Academy and the WLP tribe (Jessica Robinson, Clay Wesley, Brianna Parnell and Sikivu Hutchinson).

Special shout out of thanks to the Boston crew, the Harrington Family, KidSave, Planned Parenthood L.A., Keep it Vertical, Maurock Music Academy and Youth, the Culver City Cultural Affairs Commission, the Glorya Kaufman Center and WLP alum Brianna Simone Parnell for her wonderful painting of Tioni Theus!

The July 2026 Music and Poetry Festival was a ...

08/05/2026

WLP Summer Program Youth and rising senior Laniyah discusses what she learned and appreciated during the sessions and reads her new essay "What Feminism Means to Me as a Gen Z Youth".

08/05/2026

WLP youth summer program leader and rising senior Dalila reads her powerful poem "My Voice" 👊🏾🌈