To celebrate International Women’s Day, San Diego City College and the City Women Rock club hosted their sixth annual summit.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the conference on March 8 was held virtually for the third year in a row – the first portion shared in a live YouTube stream before the rest of the event moved to Zoom.

San Diego City College District board member Maria Nieto Senor, Vice Chancellor of Educational Services Susan Topham, and radio host Geena the Latina were some of the guest speakers in attendance. 

Topham shared she struggled with fitting in, but this mentality helped her in adulthood.

“It wasn’t until later in life that I really took pride of not fitting in,” Topham said. “That is who I am because then that gives me the opportunity to push the envelope and really challenge people to look at who they are, what they stand for and also how they can contribute to this amazing world of ours.”

Local radio host Geena the Latina spoke about her early life and how her hometown of San Fernando, a small town with a high Mexican population, and gang-related activity shaped her into who she is today.

She urged everyone to maintain a vision for the future regardless of where they came from.

“I encourage you to dream big, even if you don’t have it figured out right now,” Geena said. “Maybe you don’t know exactly what your major is or what you want to do in your life. It’s okay. 

“Continue to dream and trust yourself.”

Attendees were able to take part in break-out rooms that had women-empowering activities, which was not shared on the YouTube live feed.

The event was advertised with money stipends. That included $15,000 to support the women’s center, five $2,500 scholarships for five attendees and a $250 grant to everyone who attended.

Attendees were required to sign up before the event by filling out a registration form. Upon completion, attendees were told they would receive an approval email.

However, when the event went live on YouTube several people reported they never got an email with the necessary code in the live chat..

 A QR code requesting feedback was shared with all participants upon the completion of the event, which would qualify them for the $250 grant.   

It was not specified if people who were only part of the YouTube live feed would qualify for the grant.