OUR MISSION:
TO HELP BLACK girls uniquely and freely define, discover, and become who they are.

In 2009, Shaleah Laché Sutton created UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT, INCORPORATED (UYS), the organization, and launched the UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT for Girls (its flagship program) a one-of-a-kind annual forum in the greater Philadelphia region where hundreds of Black girls, ages 11 to 18 years old, engaged in discussion and dialogue to address the complexities of being young, Black, and female in America. Since its inception more than 15 years ago, UYS has impacted thousands of Black girls through the work of its annual Summit and other programs.

In 2020, UYS became a national organization, reaching its intended demographic of Black girls in 30 states, including California, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma and Maine. In the same year, the organization, for the first-time, held its flagship program virtually for participants on November 13-15, 2020. Amid a global pandemic, the 2020 & 2021 UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT celebrated, re-educated and loved on more than 450 Black girls while teaching them how to unpack and transcend racial oppression and patriarchy.

FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK GIRLS®

Created to deepen the efforts of social change in the communities where Black girls live and go to school by aiding them in their understanding of their worth and of their specific, unique and individual purposes. Starting first with self-love. Then, with the intention of making their families, schools, communities, and the world a safer place for them to exist. 

our vision: 
EMPOWERiNG BLACK girls right where they are to go places they've never been.

Shaleah Laché Sutton is a solutions-leader, a programming pioneer, and a visionary with a fierce commitment to the protection and advancement of Black girls. She is the proud founder of UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT, INC., an organization with a clear mission: to help Black girls uniquely and freely define, discover, and become who they are.

Nearly 2o years ago, Shaleah launched the UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT (UYS), an annual forum in the greater Philadelphia region where hundreds of Black girls, 11 to 18 years old, engaged in programming and dialogue that addressed the complexities of being young, Black, and female in America. Since its inception, UYS has impacted thousands of young Black girls across the United States through the work of its annual Summit, as well as its online presence.

In 2020, UYS became a national organization reaching its intended demographic of Black girls in 30 states, including California, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Maine. In the same year, the organization, for the first-time, held its flagship program virtually for 463 participants on November 13-15, 2020. Known to invite phenomenal Black people to lead intentional and often healing dialogues, 2020’s messengers included actresses Yara Shahidi, Lyric Ross, Eris Baker, Shahadi Wright Joseph, as well as scholar-activist Dr. Yaba Blay, and internationally acclaimed Brazilian ballerina, Ingrid Silva.

Shaleah fused her life and work experience to develop and build this needed platform 2009. A platform she believed influenced social change in the communities where Black girls live and go to school, through its aiding them in their understanding of their worth and of their specific, unique and individual purposes. According to Shaleah, “The Black girl’s journey and her experiences are unique to that of any other adolescent girl's journey and experiences. What we created was not only safe space for Black girls, but it was sacred space.” In January 2021, she created the UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT Academy (UYSA), purposefully assembled virtual “Love & Learning Labs” to resemble the sessions of the annual Summit, and provide the regular engagement (and education) that the annual participants had desired since 2010. She deemed UYSA “a [weekly] place for Black girls to be at peace with themselves.” During the same year she also established the FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK GIRLS® Summer Camp, a two-week virtual experience rooted in the joys of Black Girlhood specifically for middle school girls.

Over the years, she expanded her commitment to Black girls by creating new platforms, like: Conversations #ForTheLoveOfBlackGirls, these discussions were peer-led and for high school aged girls. Here, they used their diverse experiences and voices to discuss the social and political disparities impacting their homes, communities, and schools. For Seniors Only!, a three-day special edition of the UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT, specifically designed to strengthen, support, and empower 25 graduating high school seniors as they entered college, and prepared them to become women who were agents of change. The UYS Cover Girl Cohort— where ten to twelve girls served annually as peer-mentors and peer-leaders, representing the organization as the official faces and voices of its yearly programming and initiatives. The cohort maintained the goal of helping them to become active, engaged, and influential global citizens, who believed they could transform not only their community, but the world. The #WhatIKnowNow fundraising event series, featured notable leaders like Deesha Dyer and Sheryl Lee Ralph, examining matters related to the Black woman’s experience. And, the FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK GIRLS® Scholarship Fund, a need and academic based scholarship that lifted the economic burden for Black girls as they embarked on their journey to pursue higher education. In 2020, the Scholarship raised more than $45,000, close to $26,000 in 2021, and $20,000 in 2022.

Shaleah received numerous honors over the last decade for her efforts to enrich the lives of Black young women and girls.

In January 2018 she was featured on Forbes.com in an article entitled, “These Four Women Are Helping the Next Generation of Leaders Find Their Calling”. In 2017, she was honored with the YWCA Tri-County Tribute to Exceptional Women Mission Impact Award, and in 2016, the PECO Power to the Community Award. She was also the recipient of the 2014 Community Impact Award from Philadelphia mentoring organization, Developing in Excellence, and the recipient of the 2012 Community Service Award from the Pennsylvania State Senate’s 7th Senatorial District. In 2012, she was invited to be a workshop presenter at the 100th National Anniversary of the Girls Scouts [of Eastern PA]. In 2011, the Council of the City of Philadelphia awarded Resolution No. 110325 to her organization for its efforts to focus on “character education” as the best method to instill leadership values among young women. In the same year, she also received the Outstanding Young Leader Award from Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes & Sheryl Lee Ralph, and the Role Model Group’s 2011 Lady Leadership Honor for her commitment to leadership and excellence as a “real role model.” Shaleah is also the creator of two popular social media hashtags: #ForTheLoveofBlackGirls® and #BlackGirlInspiration.

In February 2018, Shaleah joined the Delaware Office of Women’s Advancement & Advocacy where she established for the new office its digital face and social presence. The Office was created to oversee the State's women's rights work, including leading the ongoing implementation of women's rights legislation, evaluating current women's rights legislation, building support for new legislation, and advising the Governor's Office, the Legislature, and the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources. During her short time with the Office, Shaleah was instrumental in reviving the State’s Hall of Fame of Delaware Women (2018 & 2019), an almost forty-year-old celebration and induction of remarkable Delaware women.

In 2020, Shaleah claimed what had always been hers, officially trademarking For the Love of Black Girls — a declaration that has fueled her, and words that have not only defined her work, but carried the weight, purpose, and power of her mission for years.

Nearly two decades since she started, Shaleah remains committed to the work, firmly believing that Black girls deserve more than what the world offers them. “UYS specialized in centering the Black girl. The UNIQUELY YOU SUMMIT gave voice and validity to the Black girlhood experience. It was one of the safest spaces in the world for Black girls, even beyond our weekend convention. Bringing 500 Black girls together from around the nation was deliberate. We understood the influence that our program had on Black girls, how it healed and emboldened them simultaneously — even while being left out of the national protest to humanize Blackness. We saw it at work. We saw it at work for almost two decades.” 

Shaleah is the very proud mother of twins, Brandon & Island, both of whom are now college students. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA (2002) and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (“Sweet” Mu Pi Chapter - Spring 2000).

In 2024, Shaleah launched fortheloveofblackgirls.com, a family-owned and operated retail company — a long-awaited and purposefully opulent tribute to the Black girl, and the Black family.