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Sep 6, 2006 1:24 pm US/Pacific
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Guiding Girls to Great Success
Jefferson Award Winner: Renee Richard-Smith
by Kate Kelly
(CBS 5)
Tory Wilson becomes a freshman at Clark Atlanta University this semester. It's a long way from her home in East Oakland, and a special group of women she credits with helping her get there.
"They empowered me," she explains. "They kept me focused. And they kept me confident about who I am and everything that I do. They're actually telling me, 'you need to do this and you need to do that', and that's what I need in my life."
Tory has always enjoyed the loving support of her family, but new doors opened for her when she joined a unique group founded by Renee Richard-Smith.
"I wanted to bring a program that was structured, that would give our girls a connection with women that are doing courageous things," says Renee. "That's why we have Cinnamon Girl."
Tory brightens as she explains what Cinnamon Girl stands for: "Empowering young women to become whatever they dream of and Renee has done that for me."
It's a project Renee has been planning since she became a mother of three. This former corporate sales manager found there was no better way to enrich a child's life than by including other accomplished people in it.
"As a mom even though you think you might be able to do it all, you just can't give your kids all the experiences that you want," she says.
So Cinnamon Girl arranges "enrichment trips" to meet academics, scientists, politicians, and other professionals who share their experience and perspective. Along the way, many continue to mentor the girls with tutoring, counseling, and friendship.
Samantha Schell offers Tory her help even though she'll be thousands of miles away.
"If anything comes up, you want me to read a paper, help you with it long distance, we can do it over the email," Sam tells Tory.
Initially, Cinnamon Girl started with just eight young girls from East Oakland. This year, 30 will participate and they have their first Cinnamon Girl who's college-bound. Tory won a 1-thousand dollar scholarship from Cinnamon Girl, along with a laptop computer. Even more important, she's prepared to work hard toward her goal of becoming a doctor. And the only person more excited is Renee.
"I do this work because I'm inspired by girls," she says. "I want so much for the Cinnamon Girls and the girls I come in contact with to really understand that they can do anything that they really want to do."
So for making the connections that help girls along the path of success, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Renee Richard-Smith.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)