2022 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Princess Sarah Culberson
Raised in West Virginia by her adoptive parents, Sarah Culberson had little knowledge of her ancestry. She grew up in a loving, white household, but she had questions about her identity and biracial roots that led her to hire a private investigator in 2004. When she began her unforgettable journey to find her family, she never imagined what she would discover or how it would change her life: she was related to African royalty. Her biological grandfather is the Paramount Chief of a village in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and Sarah is considered a Mahaloi, with the status of a princess. After meeting her family and the Mende people, she learned of the difficulties and privations of Sierra Leone’s people following a brutal 11-year civil war that ended in 2002. Sarah’s role within the ruling Mende family has taught her to model the responsibilities of a princess, including the preservation of community and culture. Since coming into her title, Sarah has co-founded non-profit Sierra Leone Rising to support rebuilding education, public health, and female empowerment in Sierra Leone. She has also written a book entitled A Princess Found: A Journey Through Adoption, War, and Forgiveness and she has become the director of service-learning at Oakwood School in Los Angeles. Sarah speaks nationally and internationally, sharing her story and the inspirational quest that led her across the world to learn of the chiefdom she could one day call her own. Sarah’s passionate and genuine storytelling instantly connects with and captivates crowds of all ages as she tells her personal story of discovery, self-identity, and transformation.
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