Leadership Is Key

We recently celebrated women who embody the core values of Girls Like Me Project, Inc and the value of leadership! Join us in thanking each honoree for playing a unique role in providing leadership and inspiration for future women in media and beyond.

We kicked off our celebration of leadership with our very own, India DeJonge! Not only is India a GLMPI member, but a young woman who has displayed true leadership and been present throughout our transition from in-person to virtual programming.

Tricia Hersey is the founder of The Nap Ministry and a true advocate of Self Care.

Hersey was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, thanks to her grandparents migrating from Mississippi and Louisiana during the Great Migration of the late 1940’s. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health from Eastern Illinois University and a Master of Divinity from Emory University, Candler School of Theology.

Jamilah lemieux is undoubtedly on the front lines of empowering Black girls and raising #blackgirlmagic!⠀
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Lemieux’s written work has been featured via a host of print and digital platforms, including Essence, Mic, The Guardian, Colorlines, The Washington Post, The Columbia Journalism Review, The Nation and The New York Times. She penned the foreword for the 2015 anniversary of Michele Wallace's Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman and the 2017 re-release of Ann Petry’s Miss Muriel and Other Stories. ⠀
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Currently, she pens a weekly advice column for Slate's 'Care and Feeding' parenting section and is a co-host for the Mom and Dad Are Fighting podcast.

Natalie Moore is relentless in her pursuit and illustration of the truth on race, class, and communities in Chicago. We are excited to welcome her as our guest journalism instructor!
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Moore covers segregation and inequality for WBEZ Chicago. Her enterprise reporting has tackled race, housing, economic development, food injustice, and violence. Natalie’s work has been broadcast on the BBC, Marketplace and NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. ​

We are in awe of Mellody Hobson for her courage, leadership, investment in our youth, and storytelling. ⠀
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Born on April 3, 1969 in Chicago, IL, Hobson is the president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments. She is the youngest in a family of six children, an alumna of St. Ignatius College Prep and Princeton. ⠀
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In 2017, Hobson was named to head the Economic Club of Chicago, the first African-American woman to do so. On October 8, 2020, Mellody Hobson and the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation made the lead gift to establish a new residential college at Princeton University. Hobson College will be the first residential college at Princeton named for a Black woman and will be built on the site of First College, formerly known as Wilson College.