LYNN — Young adults from across the North Shore gathered at the Lynn Museum Thursday night for the second annual Diaspora Gala, an “empowering, fun-filled” event aimed at helping young residents of the region connect with professionals in their field.
The event was organized by North Shore Women of Color Association, North Shore Juneteenth Association and Josie Santos Consulting and included a panel discussion made up of professionals of color from a variety of fields. The panel was comprised of Nicole Bluefort, an attorney known for her “aggressive representation,” who has offices in Lynn and in Boston; Norris Guscott, the City of Lynn’s public health coordinator; Andrea Gayle-Bennett, a retired brigadier general in the Massachusetts National Guard, Maria Fernanda Canton, a Lynn resident who serves as the chief human resources officer for North Shore Community Health; and Hourmat Abdul Rauf, the founder and CEO of BuildAR group and One America Capital.
In an interview ahead of the panel, Gayle-Bennett said she felt the opportunity to provide young residents of color with role models who look like them was a key role the gala served.
“Young people don’t have these kinds of opportunities,” she said.
Gayle-Bennett, who became the first African-American female to serve as an O-6 in the Mass. National Guard when she was appointed to the position in 2012, said she felt the opportunity to mentor residents of the city — not just young ones — was exciting.
“Mentorship is important no matter what age you are,” she said. “Everybody needs a mentor.”
Christina Adeoyz, a 17-year-old Lynn English student, said she came to the event for the opportunity to “learn about careers and to network.”
“If I’m able to learn it would be a success,” she said.
Adeoyz said it was particularly encouraging to see a panel primarily composed of successful people of color.
“It shows me I can also be successful as a person of color,” she said.
During the event, which was moderated by Carolina Trujillo, Vice President Volunteer Engagement Director at Eastern Bank Foundation, panelists were asked what “standing in their power” means to them.
“That means recognizing and expressing the different unique, diverse traits that make you you,” said Guscott, a Lynn resident.
Guscott said he hoped those in attendance would see that the world is their oyster, and that a path to success exists, beginning in Lynn.
“It’s important to see a representative of city government and for folks to have a voice in that,” he said in an interview ahead of the panel.
Lynn resident Wilmer Huggins, 18, who graduated from Lynn English Thursday, said he got more out of the panel than he could’ve imagined.
“I would’ve just thought it was going to be a little bit of talking here and there [but] I certainly got a lot of inspiration,” Huggins said in an interview after the panel. “There are a lot of new ideas and things I didn’t think could be dealt with before.”
Joel Gutierrez, a 23-year-old Melrose resident who was invited to the event by Huggins, said he was drawn to the event by the opportunity to meet people with a variety of experiences — both professionally and personally.
“This is a good chance to meet more people, professional people who have a lot of experience in my career or not just in my career — in life,” he said in an interview.
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
