It’s been stated over and over again that black women are forces. We are visionaries, creators, healers, entrepreneurs, lovers, and caretakers. The first annual Power Her Conference by The Chrysalis Program took place this February and it became a space to highlight all of these attributes and more. This conference was a weekend full of inspiration, empowerment, activities, and entertainment.
Powered by The Chrysalis Program, the Power Her Conference was a 3 day and 2-night event that brought together black women of all backgrounds, career paths, and lifestyles. This year it was held at the brand new Hampton Inn Chicago McCormick Place in the South Loop of Chicago.
By combining interactive workshops, performances, vendors, and speakers, this event allowed all its attendees to reflect, network, gain skills, and set goals.
The program included a welcome warm-up where all attendees gathered in one room for an icebreaker. The icebreaker was fascinating and featured an organization called Black Gurl Hoopin, a body positive group and movement created to focus on overall wellness and fitness through hula hooping.
The program also included hour-long workshops on Love and Relationships, Entrepreneurship, Sex, Trauma and Loss, Self Improvement and Self Love, and Mental Wellness.
Some of the panelists and speakers included Pamela Redwood Harris, Key Note Speaker and Founder and President of SMG Speakers Bureau; K Love the Poet, Black Girl Advocate, Healer and Poet; Chrishon Lampley, Negociant and founder of Love Cork Screw Wines; Lady Red, of 106.3 JAMZ; Camesha Jones, Mental Wellness and Wholeness Expert; LaSandra Hutchinson, Author of Grace and Grief; Lakichay Nadirah Muhammad, Self Love and Self Imrovement Expert; and Dr. Wendy McDonald, Sexual Pleasure and Health Expert.
The weekend didn’t stop there! There was also a Day Party! During the Day Party, attendees had a chance to shop with all of the vendors, network, dance, and eat! But wait, there’s more! There was also a Date Auction for all of the single women in attendance to meet some bachelors.
Once the Day Party ended, attendees were able to head to their hotel rooms and rest before the evening’s agenda. The Power Passion and Promise Gala soon followed. Jerk and Barbecue chicken, meatballs, pasta salad and green leafy salad, and fruit were all served before we were asked to head over to a separate room to hear K Love the Poet and her beautiful words.
Following this was the Fireside Chat, which was lead by Pamela Redwood Harris. The night ended with The Black Fire Comedy Showcase, featuring Lyssa Laird of TruTV and Just Nesh of Comedy Central and HBO.
In all, it was a great time. This was the very first of many and I can’t wait to see how the Power Her Conference grows!
Jasmine Danielle is a Los Angeles based dancer and fitness trainer. She received her BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has studied with FiTour, the National Federation of Personal Trainers, and the Equinox Group Fitness Training Institute. Jasmine is currently a Group Fitness Instructor for Equinox, Everybody Los Angeles, and Sandbox Fitness. Her fitness modalities include ballet, dance cardio, barre fitness, TRX, treadmill interval training, cardio kickboxing, jump rope, indoor cycling, and metabolic conditioning.