Students participating in St. James High School’s Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) chapter attended on Feb. 4 the annual YEP Conference in Springfield, presented by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO). 

The annual event brought together about 90 young people to learn about community leadership at Drury University’s Findlay Student Center Ballroom. The St. James students who attended were Amira Kemper, Cat Murphy, Jack Lillis, Ivan Dong and Echo Barnes.

In Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan’s keynote address, she urged students to find small moments to practice their potential for empathetic leadership. 

“Your voice doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful, and it doesn’t have to be loud to be heard,” Dr. Lathan said. “Leadership is how you treat people when no one is watching.” 

During the conference’s final session, Nia Howard and Bailey Pyle of Centerstone led students through a “Be Well” experience to better understand brain health and develop healthy practices for dealing with the unique stressors of adolescent life. 

The CFO’s YEP program is designed to teach high school and middle school students the tenets of philanthropy by participating in grantmaking, volunteering, education and fundraising. YEP currently engages students in 10 regional chapters and one for Springfield’s high schools. 

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is the region’s largest public charitable foundation serving donors, nonprofit partners and 55 regional affiliate foundations, including the St. James Area Community Foundation, with $549 million in assets under management as of June 30, 2025. The CFO’s mission is to improve the quality of life for everyone in central and southern Missouri through resource development, community grantmaking, collaboration and public leadership.