Tracy Mourning, Founder of Honey Shine Inc. mentoring program, and Howard University will host a panel discussion on the value of mentorship and philanthropy during the University’s 2014 Homecoming festivities. The two-hour discussion will take place this Wednesday, Oct. 15 at Howard University (Armound J. Blackburn Center’s Digital Auditorium) from 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., and feature a powerhouse panel on Howard Homecoming’s “Educational Day.”
Akil Kamau, Howard University Vice President for Administration at the Howard University Alumni Association, will moderate the panel. Members will include: Tracy Wilson Mourning (Founder of Honey Shine Inc., Co-Founder of the Mourning Family Foundation, and Howard Alumna); Tueday Wilson (Howard University student, Undergraduate Representative for the Howard University Board of Trustees, Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and National Council of Negro Women); Dr. Amy Yeboah (Howard University faculty member and Black Women in America instructor); Sonya Lockett (Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, BET Networks); and Jeff Johnson (Award-winning journalist).
Statistics show that children, including teenagers, with positive role models in their lives tend to make better choices were a part of Mourning’s motivation to begin her mentoring program Honey Shine, Inc. in South Florida. As she prepares to expand Honey Shine nationwide, beginning in hometown of Las Vegas, Nev., Mourning also felt it necessary to extend her mentorship to the young minds at her beloved alma mater, Howard University. Mourning and her husband National Basketball Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning, hope that this 2014 Homecoming panel fosters a post-panel discussion call to action for all attendees. Even further, the philanthropist power couple ultimately hopes the panel creates an incredible networking opportunity for students and is the birth of a long-term alliance with Howard and The Mourning Family Foundation.
“Important to the success of Honey Shine are the mentors who provide guidance to the young girls,” said Mourning. “Mentors share their personal experiences and help guide our youth to a healthy and happy future. Charity relieves the pains of social problems, whereas we strive to gear the focus on philanthropy, which attempts to solve those problems at their root causes. And for this reason, I also want to pay it forward for my fellow Bison at HU.”
