00:00Hello, everyone. My name is Caroline Wanga and I am the Chief Executive Officer of Essence
00:12Communication, Inc. And I couldn't be more excited to be with you today. We have an opportunity to
00:18celebrate something that's really culturally important for us, which is homecoming. Homecoming
00:25at our HBCUs is a tradition that most of us make sure we don't miss. And this year, agnostic of the
00:32fact that we're not able to be together the way we would want to, we partnered with our friends at
00:36Pepsi to still be able to bring you a virtual HBCU homecoming and call it, similar to last year,
00:45She Got Now 2020. I am an alumni of a HBCU. I also sit on a board of trustees in an HBCU,
00:54graduated from Texas College, trustee at Talladega College. And what I would tell you
00:58that most of you already know, and if you don't know, you're going to know,
01:02that the world that the HBCU creates is what helps us create the cultural catalysts that come in
01:08and do great things in the world as global citizens. But what we also know is that they
01:13nurture something that broader society sometimes doesn't give the right attention to. And so we're
01:18so proud to, yes, make sure that those HBCUs are preserved in the way that we think is important,
01:24but also ensure that we get to celebrate our culture in a way that is authentic to us.
01:30I have to do a thank you to some of the schools that were involved in this. And so I'm going to do a
01:35little bit of a roll call. And if your school isn't on there, don't trip. We'll get you next
01:40year. Benedict College, Florida A&M, University Hampton, University Jackson State, University
01:52Norfolk State, University North Carolina A&T State, University Prairie View, A&M University,
02:01and University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. We could not be more excited to celebrate today
02:07the legacy of both HBCUs in our community, but also some phenomenal women that are doing great
02:13things. Caroline, thank you. I am so excited to be here and happy homecoming, everyone.
02:19And welcome to She Got Now 2020. I wish we could be on campus with each of you to celebrate,
02:24but we are still thrilled to be here to celebrate one of the greatest cultural moments of the year.
02:29We couldn't be more excited at Pepsi to partner with Essence on this incredible program
02:33to provide entertainment and conversation, to keep the homecoming spirit going, even socially
02:38different. She Got Now is one of the most exciting programs I've never been part of in my 32 years
02:44at Pepsi. We've had the pleasure of hosting 12 incredible HBCU women through our Pepsi Beverages
02:50North American Internship Program last summer, and looking forward to expanding that program
02:54this year to 15 internships. Now, we want you to sit back and enjoy this virtual homecoming experience.
03:01Let's celebrate our power, our resilience, and most importantly, our excellence. Enjoy the program.
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