The first annual Womens Empowerment Conference was held recently in Atlanta, Ga. This conference brought together diverse women in their 30s through 80s who are alumnae of two high schools in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies.

The luncheon was hosted by the Atlanta Chapter of the St. Hughs High School Alumnae Association (SHHSAA) and the Queens Alumnae Atlanta Chapter (QAAC). Proceeds from this event go towards supporting renovations at St. Hughs and scholarships for students at Queens. One of the objectives of SHHSAA and QAAC is to develop a broad network of support involving alumnae residing in Jamaica, in cities across the United States, Canada, and elsewhere.

The keynote speakers, Jackie Woods and Beverley Manley, wove a multidimensional theme as they encouraged the participants to break from past patterns of behavior. The women were challenged to listen to their hearts and prosper from a new paradigm of personal responsibility, spirit-filled lives, community sustainability, nation building, and planetary healing.

Woods, founder and director of Adawehi Institute Healing School and Wellness Center in Columbus, evoked the introspection of Empowering Your Heart for Extraordinary Living. An expert in the field of self-actualization, Woods provided tools for finding inner alignment, which is the first step towards improving relationships. Author of numerous recorded seminars and three books, Spiritual Energy Cycles, Journey to Ultimate Spirituality, and Soulmate or Cell-Mate, Woods encouraged individuals to practice vertical living by being true to the qualities that define our true essence the qualities of our hearts.

Woods is known through more than two decades of life coaching in Atlanta and guest appearances on syndicated radio and T.V. Her current weekly radio show, Heart Matters, is co-hosted with her son, Russell, from www.jackiewoods.org.

Woods 12 year-old, 125 acre campus in the foothills of Western North Carolina includes an community of 60 residents, a full service natural foods market, ten holistic healing practitioners, and a wellness retreat. Adawehi offers public workshops and resources in areas such as communication, meditation, family and parenting, and business transformation to provide participants with tools for lasting change and fulfillment.

Manley, known internationally as the former first lady of Jamaica, is a policy analyst, gender specialist, journalist, and author. Her career has included visiting professorships at several universities; research at universities, including Howard, Harvard, and Cornell; co-producing and co-hosting the award-winning show, The Breakfast Club, on Jamaican radio; and numerous coaching and transformation engagements. You may read more about her at www.beverleymanley.com.

Manley described her early experiences as examples to encourage others to grow from their history and reach the point of knowing that the past does not determine who we are. In her autobiography, The Manley Memoirs, she described experiences at St. Hughs School, where, with her two sisters, Manley traveled by train, foot and bus to school every day. The adolescent girls had to sell homemade coconut cakes to schoolmates to defray expenses.

Manley and Woods encourage supporters from around the globe to participate in improving the experiences of students and faculty at St. Hughs and Queens high schools. To celebrate and contribute to this continued focus on education for life, contact yaadie@gmail.com or qaac@queensatlanta.org.