As a lawyer whose firm represents children in the welfare system, Baltimore's Kendra Jolivet has had a passion for children.

Now, she has launched a conference, taking place at New Town High School, that she hopes will "enlighten, educate and entertain" girls not just in this area, but nationwide.

"It was a vision that was given to me to create a movement for girls," said Jolivet, who is spearheading the second annual She Matters Girls Empowerment Conference & Expo on Saturday, May 16.

Open to girls ages 9-17, the goal of the project, she said, is "to create a national movement to empower girls around the country. We want girls to know all about all the different careers they can get into and expose them to that."

Last year, the event drew about 700 girls from the Baltimore and Washington areas, as well as Pennsylvania.

New Town was selected because "it just seemed to be a good fit... and they were very supportive of what we are trying to do," she said.

Besides information on a variety of careers, this year's one-day event will have workshops on topics like money management, relationship issues, college planning, gang awareness and starting your own business.

The workshops are broken up into four, age-specific groups and will also feature vendors and presentations by Miss Maryland USA and Miss Teen Maryland USA.

After last year's conference, Jolivet said she received many positive comments and learned that some older girls even used what they learned to start their own businesses.

This year, she expects about 800 girls to show up.

"One thing that really resonated with the girls is they realize that they matter," she said. "We had some great stories from that conference."

For more information, go to www.shematterstoo.com.

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