KorinaLiekhus

She may seem like an average high school sophomore with eight classes and no study hall, an afterschool job and interests in speech and debate and mock trial. She loves to roller skate and watch Netflix– but she is so much more.

On Nov. 2, sophomore MajieAhna Winfrey was awarded the African American Leadership Award in the youth category. “I was recognized by the Urban League of Nebraska for being the youngest recipient of the African American Leadership award. It was really fun to go through the whole process because it wasn’t just the award ceremony. We got to make a video of us saying what this award meant to us and how we ended up at this point. They also gave us professional headshots which was really fun, and, after that, we got a plaque with our name on it as well as our headshot engraved on it. I love being recognized for the important work I do, but I also know that I couldn’t do it by myself,” Winfrey said.

The way Winfrey found out about this award was definitely unusual. In fact, “I just got a phone call one day that was to set up a headshot, and I didn’t know why. So I asked and the lady who called said that I had won the award,” Winfrey said. 

Her biggest inspiration is her mom. This is because her mom also has a business which Winfrey helps with, Ladies in IT, which is a program for young girls to learn more about different technology and careers that come along with that, to help learn about entrepreneurship.  

“I was bullied a lot in elementary school because people thought that I was weird because I was really nerdy and wore glasses,” Winfrey said, “so people just automatically assumed that I was a nerd. I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence.”

 “I went to a predominantly white school, and I was one of about three Black girls in the entire building. It was really hard for me to navigate it by myself because I didn’t have anyone to lean on,” she said. “After I left that school, I realized that my self-esteem was really damaged, so through learning self-love and self-confidence, because nobody could do it for me, I discovered saying affirmations to yourself really helps. I decided this would be important for me to share with other people so I started ‘“Mirage by Maj”’ which is where I design and sell floral design mirrors,” Winfrey said. 

Winfrey’s business is eclectic and creative, and she spends approximately 10 hours a week on it. Winfrey said, “I named it Mirage because it means illusion, and I use mirrors to be able to portray this. The flowers also represent blooming within yourself and stating that you are of importance. Flowers represent beautiful things and you are a beautiful thing.” She created this business to empower young women. Along with making these mirrors, she goes to afterschool programs and non-profit organizations to do workshops with them, so that they know that they can have a role model or somebody to lean on. 

  However, this is not Winfrey’s first award. The first award Winfrey received was the “Outstanding Student Community Builder” from Civic Nebraska in 2017. “I went to Lothrop Elementary School, and I was in the afterschool program. We did this entrepreneurship class, and I had the best idea for a business and Civic Nebraska, which is the after school program, gave me this award,” Winfrey said. 

She was also recognized as the youngest recipient of the “Young Black and Influential” award for Innovation in 2020. “My mom has her own business too,  and we’re like a mother-daughter duo,” Winfrey said. “She was teaching me a lot about her entrepreneurship journey as she was learning it later in life, and she wanted me to learn it earlier. The I Be Black Girl organization recognized us in innovation for our businesses.” 

More recently, during the 2021-2022 year she received an award from Confidently Me Mentorship Program for being a Provider. “This is another non-profit that I worked with. I offer workshops for young girls where I can go in and teach them what an affirmation is, show them different ways they can empower themselves instead of looking for validation from other people. So I go in and I help them make their mirrors. Instead of selling it to them, they get it for free because they get to make their own instead of having me make it.”  

The most recent award before this one is an award for entrepreneurship from The BLOC. She was also the winner of the Rising CEOs Program during the fall of 2022. “This is a nine-week program where you learn ways to grow your business, you learn how to throw a pitch, get funding and grants for your businesses and how to budget for your business. At the end of this program, we had to pitch our businesses to a panel of judges and I ended up winning this and they gave me $500 for my business,” Winfrey said.  

MajieAhna Winfrey is a leader in Omaha as well as at Marian. English teacher Ms. Halli Tripe said, “MajieAhna is outspoken and not afraid to call things out, which is perfect for debate.” Her role on the debate team allows her to explore her leadership in new ways. She earned these awards while being a high school student, inspiring others in her community.