Nash Whitaker to be honored in Lynn

LYNN – Lynn native and former model Keisha Nash Whitaker will be named an honorary ambassador for Girls Incorporated of Lynn at the non-profit organization’s annual Strong Smart and Bold Luncheon today.Whitaker, who is the wife of Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, will be the guest of honor at the fundraising event, continuing a trend that has seen her work with local Girls Inc. teens and appear in a public service announcement for the organization.”What programs like Girls Inc. do is give girls support and an opportunity to meet people they can relate to,” Whitaker said in an interview Wednesday. “You meet other girls in the organization who share your struggles. It is great to have those role models and positive relationships with the girls you meet.”Growing up in West Lynn, Whitaker said she frequented Girls Inc. and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lynn, along with other organizations, which helped her stay away from temptation and keep a positive attitude growing up.Now that she has moved on to a successful career in both business and modeling, Whitaker says it is important for girls from Lynn to understand that they can do anything they want and to look at her as an example of someone who was able to do that.”Coming from Lynn does not mean that you don’t succeed,” she said. “I want to be someone these girls can relate to. I don’t want it to be like (I am a celebrity) when I walk in the room. I see myself in those girls, and I want to be somebody they can look at and know that they can be successful and they can be happy.”Whitaker came to Lynn last year to debut a new makeup line, and invited a group of girls from Girls Inc. to lunch. This year, she is planning to take another group on a bowling trip to Lucky Strike.”It is important for these girls to get involved in different things, see different occupations,” she said. “My goal is to bring girls together so they can feel strong and empowered.”Kicking off her trip back to her hometown, Whitaker arrived via stretch limo at Lynn English High School Wednesday morning, taking time from her itinerary to speak to seniors at the school.Introduced by her former Connery Elementary School Principal and current School Committee member Vin Spirito, Whitaker was warmly received by the group of students, despite being a 1990 graduate of Classical High School. She even received an invitation to prom from LEHS basketball star Ryan Woumn.Whitaker spoke briefly to the group, sharing her personal struggle to overcome adversity as a 19-year-old mother and continue to stay motivated despite being told she was too short to become a model.”It is important to know that you are going to have doors that are going to close and, being from Lynn, I know that you have it in you to go back and knock again,” she told the students. “It is OK to dream because life is endless possibility. The only reason I have been able to remain true to who I am is because I am from Lynn. People from Lynn keep it real.”Formerly a model with the prestigious Ford NY and Elite agencies, Whitaker built a successful career as a model and later as an entrepreneur, launching her own lake up line called Kissable Couture. Along with flanking her Oscar-winning husband on the red carpet, Whitaker can be seen as a fashion correspondent on the television magazine EXTRA!.