Who We Are
The Alberta V. Scott Leadership Academy (AVS), an initiative of ABHW, is a mentorship program serving Black high school girls in the Greater Boston area. The mission of AVS is to facilitate the holistic development of successful young Black women by equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in college, the workplace, and the world at large. Fostering sisterhood between AVS scholars and their college-level mentors, the program strives to cultivate leadership skills and nurture individual creativity. It is our hope, that through candid, insightful discussion, we can create a community of empowered young Black women ready and willing to take on the world and support their peers in future endeavors.
Who is Alberta V. Scott
Alberta Virginia Scott is the first African American woman to graduate from Radcliffe College. The Association of Black Harvard Women honors her legacy of service by naming our mentorship programming after her. While Scott had an early death, she created a path that all people can learn from. AVS was founded to build community and uphold the principle of community and public service that reached outside of Harvard. Since its inception, AVS has endeavored to serve countless Black youth who identify with Black womanhood both inside and outside of Harvard’s community. AVS’ mission extends not only to the mentees but to the mentors!
This Year's AVS
This year (2024-2025), AVS meetings, held every other Saturday from 12:00-1:30PM EST will be in-person! We will be meeting in the Harvard College Women’s Center, located in the basement of Canaday B. We will be hosting workshops around college preparation, self-care and self-love as Black women, and doing excursions outside of Boston. Additionally, some of our meetings will feature engaging and exciting speakers that associate with Black womanhood. All of this will be at no cost to the mentees and our programming will be adjusted to fit their personal needs.
Partnerships
AVS is sponsored by the COOP for the 2024-2025 school year.