Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 3-13-20

Feature
Teen Entrepreneur To Be Honored Again At NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
On the cusp of her 13th birthday, Ailani Colyn Forde is a very busy young lady. The seventh grader is running a flourishing flip flop business, has stellar academ- ics and is active doing com- munity service. Her hard work has paid off as she was re- cently named an “Unsung Hero” and will be receiving the Madame C. J .Walker Award for youth entrepre- neurship and community service at the upcoming NAACP Freedom Fund Din- ner. This will be the 2nd time she has received a NAACP award.
“I was completely hon- ored,” said the teen, “It’s so amazing to receive an award named for a woman that had such great impact on African American culture and indus- try.”
Ailani has a 4.0 GPA and plans on becoming the first African American female Supreme Court Justice of the United States. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, dancing, singing, acting, poli- tics, and volunteering in her community. She is a member of Grace Family Church, Emerging Young Leaders, Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (TIP) and the NAACP.
AILANI C. FORDE ...Owner and creator of Fancy Flops
She is the daughter of Dr. Colin and Joselynne Forde, and is the big sister to
Colin, II.
The Hillsborough chapter of the NAACP holds the Free- dom Fund Dinner annually and is its largest fundraiser. The mission of the Hillsbor- ough County Branch of the NAACP, opened by the na- tional organization in 1909, is to ensure the political, educa- tional, social, and economic equality of all citizens, and to eliminate race-based discrim- ination.
The theme for this year’s dinner is “When We Fight, We Win.” The dinner will be held on April 4, 2020. There will be a Meet and Greet re- ception at 6 p. m. and the din- ner at 7 p. m.This year the guest speaker will be Derrick
Johnson, the national direc- tor of the NAACP.
Mr. Johnson rose to prominence in Mississippi where he was instrumental in several social justice reforms. He was appointed to the Mis- sissippi Access to Justice Commission by the Chief Jus- tice of the Mississippi Supreme Court and Chair of the Governor’s Commission for Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal by the governor of Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
For more information on the Freedom Fund Dinner, tickets, and sponsorships, please visit WWW.NAACP Hillsborough.ORG and click on Freedom Fund Dinner.
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A