By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The world knows her as ’Nessa, the adult weary niece on the Bernie Mac Show, but local students got to see another side of Camille Winbush, one that may inspire them on a personal level.

Winbush was the keynote speaker at the Growing Wiser, Stronger III Summit, held recently at Elk Grove’s Monterey Trails High School. The event was hosted, in celebration of Black History Month, by the school’s Black Student Union and the Sacramento-based non-profit organization Earth Mama Healing.

“I’m very excited to be a part of an extremely positive summit that will encourage success and hope for African American youth,” shared BSU Adviser and summit co-director Martin Billings.

Growing Wiser, Stronger was designed for young people of African descent between the ages of 13 and 23. Topics of discussion ran the gamut from education and health care to relationships and the justice system.

“This summit is about youth changing the direction of the world by developing and implementing positive solutions and campaigns,” shared summit founder and co-director RoLanda Wilkins.

In the past, the summit has focused solely on Black girls, but expanded this year to include both sexes.

“The mothers of the young men wanted something for their sons to get information and guess what the grown men stood up to put together their workshops so I love that,” Wilkins said.

The summit featured two motivational speakers, Winbush and Bay Area radio host Davey D.

In addition to her work on “The Bernie Mac Show,” the 18-year-old’s resumé also includes roles on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds,” “ER,” “NYPD Blue,” “Strong Medicine” and “Seventh Heaven,” where she played the daughter of the character portrayed by Sacramento native Olivia Brown. On the big screen, she’s starred opposite future Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker in “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” and California’s future governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Eraser.”

She all but owned the NAACP Image Awards while the “Bernie Mac Show” originally aired, winning in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series categories three years in a row, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

She shared with participants how she used money she earned through her career to open an ice cream parlor called Baked Ice in Pasadena and Atlanta. Black Enterprise magazine recognized Winbush’s entrepreneurial spirit in 2004, awarding her its Teenpreneur Award, which awards youth who are “role models and are committed to advancing the rich tradition of Black business achievement.”

Bay Area music lovers recognize Davey D as one of Northern California’s favorite deejays from his work at stations like KMEL, KPFA and KALX. He’s also known for his extensive knowledge of hip hop and this community activism. Davey D, is the co-founder of the Bay Area Hip Hop Coalition and is highly sought after to speak on topics ranging from the history of hip hop to the hip hop generation’s impact on politics in America. He’s spearheaded Rock the Vote campaigns and has spoken his mind as a hip hop commentator in the San Jose Mercury News, the Hip Hop Political Newsletter and Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner, one of the oldest and largest hip hop sites on the Internet.

For the girls, workshops included “AIDS and Its Effect on You,” led by Azziza Davis Goines, the President of the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce and the founder of the Central Valley African American HIV/AIDS Collaborative” and “Understanding My Mother and Myself,” led by Kenya Fagbemi, a childbirth educator at NIA, the Birthing Project Clinic. For the boys, workshops included “True Wealth is Your Health,” led by Phil Nelson; “Don’t Be Silent About Domestic Violence,” led by David Asfall, of jBanta, Inc: Resources & Support for Fathers; and “Discovering, Cultivating & Releasing You,” facilitated by youth advocate Carl Simien.

“I believe it is important for African American youth to have mentors because they get to witness, connect and understand themselves as well our culture and history. Overall they learn how to walk in the world in a good way,” Wilkins said.