Women of Tomorrow

Marcela Alfaya, Staff Writer

“To inspire, motivate, and empower at-risk young women to live up to their full potential through a unique mentoring program with highly accomplished professional women and scholarship opportunities.”

In every single Palm Beach County high school, there is a program called Women of Tomorrow and that is their mission statement. This nonprofit organization is a mentoring and scholarship program in place for high school girls. New members must either be currently enrolled in 9th or 10th grade to make sure they can get the full experience of the program. This experience includes the empowerment and appreciation of women everywhere. Meetings involve subjects varying from bullying to drugs and alcohol. Guest speakers come and share not only their experiences and hardships they’ve had to go through, but also their achievements and accomplishments.

Not only does Women of Tomorrow empower young ladies, but it also gives them a good chance to graduate. Approximately 95% of those girls finish high school and a staggering 80% seek and enroll in higher education. Overall there is a statistically positive increase in self-esteem and GPAs for these young women.

Dr.Rizzi, who has been in charge of this program for five years since she took over for Dr. Melissa Garcia, will be starting her sixth year this school year. She works alongside the chosen mentor to organize and plan meetings. When asked what she likes about the program she said: ” I love it because I get to meet students, not in my usual caseload and I get to watch these young girls grow from 9th to 12th grade.”

If you are a current freshman or sophomore interested in Women of Tomorrow, contact Dr.Rizzi through the guidance office.