Young Women to Watch Awards, Revisited
From watching finalists in 2017 to sitting at the table in 2024.
Attending the 2024 Running Start Young Women to Watch Awards was a life changing experience for me. I still remember watching the 2017 candidates give their speeches, following the voting, and hearing the powerful messages that night, back when I was a recent graduate of the Running Start High School Program just getting to know its CEO and founder, Susannah Wellford.
I never imagined I would be one of the finalists myself, yet five years later, with the encouragement of the Running Start community, I was elected as the 2022 Running Start Ambassador. Returning to this year's Awards felt nostalgic, and I felt honored to be surrounded by the wider Running Start network of alumnae, supporters, and women leaders.
One leader I met that night works in the D.C. Mayor's Office of Talent and Appointments, someone I first met during my 2017 high school program. Seeing her now made elected public office feel closer than it did when I was fifteen. I was glad to sit at a table with Running Start supporters, including Grace Riley-Adams, and to connect with my successor, 2023 Ambassador Alexa Marsh, and this year's winner, 2024 Ambassador Marissa Pittman.
