What’s Your Story?

YMCA IMPACT STORY

Making an Impact: One Girl, One Woman, One Goal
April 2019
“One girl, one woman, one goal can change the world in one
day,” says Ke’Aunte, founder of BeYoutiful Weirdo LLC. As the
lead preschool teacher for the Massillon Family YMCA,
Ke’Aunte, better known as Miss Ke-ke to her students, found
the inspiration for her mentoring program in her students who
would ask her for advice during class. With the construction of
the program in 2014, she began to draw in a small group of
girls to mentor. Currently, Ke-ke is mentoring over 100 girls
across our community, in schools, at the Y, in her church, and
in Canton. Her goal: to help girls ages 5-17 to believe in
themselves and to reach their fullest potential. She teaches
them how to gain confidence, achieve goals, and become a
leader while expressing self-love and creating unity among
their peers.
Ke’Aunte has also written a book, titled, “A Positive Life is a Happy Life: Daily Motivation
for You and Me,” after suffering from bouts of depression and feeling worthless. Being very
spiritual, she feels that God has given her the purpose of serving others in her community
and He has helped her to rise to her purpose. As a recipient of the 2019 Y Stark 20 Under
40 Award and Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women, she states, “This means
so much to me because that’s what my goal in life is. To help young women and young girls
and that’s how I want people to see me as. Be an impact to everyone, to know that they
can do this, that they can build their confidence up and just go after their dreams.”

For further inquiries or to submit your own story, please contact the author at
estefanick@weststarky.org