Born and raised in Queens, New York, Yanique Richards always shared a passion for change through the power of voice. At a very young age, she noticed that speaking into her hairbrush as if it were a microphone and wearing her mother’s work shoes was not just the childish dress-up that most young girls dabble in. Instead, it was the persona of a career-driven woman that she felt compelled to imitate.

Yanique is a highly motivated eighteen-year-old attending Howard University as a Broadcast Journalism major and Political Science minor. As a high school senior at Baldwin Senior High School, Yanique interned at the Women’s Media Center and Seventeen Magazine, and freelanced as a reporter at various events in NY. While doing this, Yanique managed to maintain a 3.4 GPA, act as editor-and-chief of her high school newspaper, and announce various events as an on-air personality.

Recently, Yanique was honored as a Pathfinder Achiever in the town of Hempstead, receiving the “Breaking Glass Ceilings” award. Yanique is currently a part of Howard University’s Association of Black Journalists and the WHBC News Team and Programming Team, in addition to being a writer for Howard University’s newspaper The Hill Top and head of public relations for the Freshman Leadership Council.

SPARK is thrilled to welcome Yanique as a featured speaker at the SPARK Summit Reel to Real event, a multimedia introduction to the sexualization of girls presented by SPARK leadership, young women, and author and documentary film maker Jean Kilbourne. Reel to Real will take place during the opening ceremony from 8:30-10:00 am.