Prep for Prep’s 2023 Lilac Ball took place on Monday, June 12, 2023 at the New York Marriot Marquis. Guests heard from student speakers–two high school seniors and one Preparatory Component student–who shared their Prep Journeys. In addition, we celebrated the Lilac Ball Honoree, Kareem Cook (VI), co-owner and Chief Marketing Officer of Naturade. 

Return to this page in January 2024 for information about next year’s Lilac Ball.
Meet 2023 Lilac Ball Honoree
Kareem Cook (VI)
Kareem Cook (VI/Calhoun ’90, Duke ’94) MBA, Duke ’00 is the first Prep for Prep alumnus to be chosen as a Lilac Ball Honoree in our event’s 36-year history! He was selected because he demonstrates a strong commitment to education and leadership and generously supports Prep for Prep’s mission of developing young leaders.
 
Meet the Lilac Ball Speakers
Prep for Prep Speaker Krislyn M. (XXXIX)
Krislyn’s goal in life is to positively effect change. At The Packer Collegiate Institute, she developed an interest in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work and public policy. She served as the Service Leadership Council Diversity and Equity Representative and was the Change Committee Operations Director, Leader, and STEM Representative. In 2020, she founded Black Girl Magic, an affinity group based on sisterhood and activism that establishes a connection between Packer students, faculty and staff, and alumni.
PREP 9 Speaker Nicole O.M. (P9 XXXII)
Nicole is passionate about science and engineering. While at Hotchkiss, she reinstated its Women in STEM group and served as its head for three years. One of her favorite classroom projects this semester has been building an electric guitar from scratch to look like a wedge of cheese. She also participated in the SOAR education enrichment program where she served as an after school instructor to young girls interested in STEM. In 2021, Nicole interned at NASA through the STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Summer High School Intern Program. She hopes to one day lead a NASA rover engineering team. 
Preparatory Component Speaker Cameron J. (XLV)
Cameron is in the sixth grade and his favorite subject is writing. One of his proudest accomplishments is writing his first vignette–a piece about helping a man in the subway that he wrote during his first summer in Prep for Prep. When he’s not crafting compelling narratives or tackling other school work, he enjoys basketball and soccer–two sports he has played for more than six years. He has aspirations of becoming an architect. 


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