West Alabama Youth Leadership Conference brings students together again
Hundreds of students from West Alabama gained valuable insights during this year's Youth Leadership Conference. (Nik Layman / Alabama News Center)
For the first time since 2020, hundreds of students plus teachers from nearly 20 schools in West Alabama gathered in person in Tuscaloosa last week for the annual Youth Leadership Conference.
Alabama Power’s Western Division hosted the event at Shelton State Community College. For the last two years, the event was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 400 students heard from a range of speakers on topics, including leadership, career development and workforce training opportunities, entrepreneurship, volunteerism and activism. Additional schools took part in this year’s event virtually.
Youth Leadership Conference offers direction to Alabama high school students from Alabama News Center on Vimeo.
As part of the event, 50 students received a surprise announcement that they were the recipients of academic scholarships to attend Shelton State, Bevill State Community College and Wallace Community College Selma. The Alabama Power Foundation partnered with the colleges on the scholarships.
“This was our 21st year hosting the Youth Leadership Conference, and we looked for opportunities to better engage students in West Alabama,” said Mark Crews, Alabama Power Western Division vice president.
“We had a dynamic lineup of speakers who shared valuable insight to help students prepare for life after high school. For me, the best part of the event was being able to surprise students with scholarships to our area community colleges. We were honored to be able to invest in the future of these students.”
Volunteers from Alabama Power and the Alabama Power Service Organization helped host the event. Learn more about the Youth Leadership Conference by viewing the video below:
