Dameyonna Willis – Outstanding Young

Since 2016, over 1500 girls have been impacted by Dameyonna Willis’ Queen I Am empowerment program, where self-love, self-respect and self-understanding is taught. Willis understands the struggles with low self-esteem and peer pressure that some young “queens” often face. Queen I Am provides workshops and spaces for one-on-one mentoring. Working with girls ages seven to 17, she focuses on four core areas: College and Career Readiness; Health and Wellness; Financial Literacy and Service Learning.

As her infant daughter healed from heart surgery, Willis was “In a space of not loving myself.” Young “queens” reached out to her with life conversations. She began teaching them ways to pour into themselves. “You can’t talk about math, if she does not feel as though she’s an important individual.”  Willis understood her role was to offer motivation and encouragement helping to make them feel important.

The objective of Queen I Am is to create more beautiful young girls, emphasizing that they are enough. The organization exposes them to opportunities they may have never heard about. She works with girls who may be suicidal, helping them battle the challenges of not feeling important.

Willis becomes part of the family attending graduations, proms and other important milestones. She is invested in her “queens’ consistently reminding them that whoever and whatever they want to be is possible.