900+ Students and Adults from 80 Richmond-Area Non-Profits to Attend General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) Event

Keynote Address Headlines Community Symposium Hosted by St. Christopher's School; Presenting Sponsor MWV

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 900 students, adults and their mentors from over 80 Richmond-area non-profit organizations will comprise a significant portion of the audience for General Colin L. Powell's presentation on leadership on Friday, November 18. The evening kicks off Building Leaders from the Inside Out, the third in an ongoing series of symposiums hosted by St. Christopher's School. Over 1,100 students and their mentors will be in attendance for the Saturday program featuring an additional four presenters chosen for their remarkable individual journeys and views on leadership.

"We look forward to welcoming the Richmond community to our campus to hear and learn from national and internationally respected speakers about how character and purpose contribute to real leadership," said St. Christopher's Headmaster, Charles M. Stillwell. "We have made a focused effort to connect with an array of community programs and services to ensure they have an opportunity to participate in the symposium."

St. Joseph's Villa is among the organizations participating this weekend, sending a group of high-school students as well as mothers from their Flagler Services for Homeless Families program.

"We really can't thank St. Christopher's and its partners enough for making this opportunity available to the people we serve," said Bruce Cauthen of St. Joseph's Villa. "The Leadership Symposium is all about finding a dream and doing everything possible to make that happen. So many of the people we serve here at the Villa are people who don't have many dreams. Attending the Symposium will show them that anything is within their grasp, and that is a powerful message. We all can learn a great deal from that message."

The Armstrong Leadership Program, a select group from Church Hill's Armstrong High School, will have 45 students and mentors at Friday's event.

"Every year we take a group of kids on a fall retreat to Camp Friendship in Palmyra. It is a liberating weekend for them!" said Yvette Davis Rajput, Director of the Armstrong Leadership Program. "This year, we were so excited to get tickets for all of our kids and mentors to see General Powell. It will be a great segue for our leadership weekend. We worked it out to hear him speak and then leave later that night for our retreat. It will be a little dark when we get to camp, but it will be worth it!"

Rajput and her team have developed their entire weekend program around the Symposium theme Building Leaders from the Inside Out. "We know that it will be empowering for our kids to hear General Powell," said Tiont Williams, Assistant Director of the Armstrong Leadership Program. "After hearing General Powell, we will be spending the rest of the weekend with the youth leaders reflecting on his leadership points and how they can make a difference. We hope that this soul searching on leadership and also self reflection will help them become better leaders in the community and in society."

Michael Farley, Executive Director, Elk Hill, said, "Experiences like this help broaden young peoples' perspective and allow opportunities for growth."

"The kids are excited," said Paul Bratton, Program Director, Elk Hill Farm and Elk Hill Northside, who is especially interested in his students' reaction to Saturday's speaker Wes Moore. "Our kids could have ended up like the other Wes Moore, in jail or worse. Elk Hill is giving them a chance to make positive changes in their lives so they can end up like Wes Moore, the author, or General Powell, the statesman. Hearing from Mr. Moore and General Powell may give our youth beneficial perspective on their own situation."

Saturday speakers include Li Cunxin, world class ballet dancer and author of Mao's Last Dancer; Robyn Benincasa, world champion Eco-Challenge Adventure Racer; Doc Hendley, Founder and President of Wine to Water; and Wes Moore, youth advocate and the author of The Other Wes Moore. The Presenting Sponsor is MWV, Wells Fargo Advisors is the Major Sponsor, and Davenport & Company is the Visionary Sponsor. St. Christopher's School launched the first Building Leaders from the Inside Out community Symposium in 2005. This weekend's event is the third in the series hosted by the School, now celebrating its Centennial year.

SOURCE St. Christopher's School