Young Women’s Leadership Club (YWLC) takes off at Ocean Lakes, aspiring to nurture a sense of community and empowerment. 

“YWLC is essentially a club open to everyone, but our main audience is young women,” club vice president and senior Bella Rivers said. “It is made to honor and provide a community for women and highlight important female leaders”

The club aims to connect students through leadership and collaboration, offering a space of comfort and sisterhood.

“There needs to be a space for women to be able to come together because there is strength in numbers. Being able to have a community of women who are ambitious and want to be leaders in their community is so important to me,” Bella said. 

Originally inspired by Kellam High School’s YWLC, president and senior Maddie Murell hopes to create a platform that targets inclusivity between all grade levels.

“I have a bunch of friends at Kellam who are in YWLC there, and seeing the success of it inspired me to bring that to Ocean Lakes,” Maddie said. “We work really hard on getting every grade level to participate.”

Meetings are held once a month and typically consist of games and crafts, and the club hopes to incorporate guest speakers into meetings. 

“Bella and I work hard to make the club both fun and inclusive, so we try to keep it fun with food and crafts,” Maddie said. “We really just want to foster skills that girls can bring into their schoolwork and outside life.”

Since its commencement, YWLC has attracted students from every grade level, achieving community building and newfound relationships. 

“I joined YWLC because it is so rewarding to see young women find their voice,” sophomore Bella Nichols said. “Being able to influence young girls and show them that it is good to have a strong voice is worth more than gold.”