EAST LANSING - Zeta Phi Beta sorority hosted an event for African-American high school aged women in East Lansing on Feb. 3.

Young women from Lansing, East Lansing and Haslett attended the E-Girls Summit, which focused on teaching young African-American women to create their own destiny.

Marsha Small, President of Zeta Phi Beta's local chapter, explains that initially, only women from Lansing high schools were invited to the summit. After hearing that East Lansing and Haslett students expressed interest in attending though, they decided to invite those young women as well.

Small says that she hopes the young women are able to understand that they can create their own destiny after hearing from the event speakers.

"They are responsible for creating their own destiny, and even though you may have difficult circumstances in your life, there's no point that you can't succeed," Small says.

Zeta Phi Beta's brother fraternity has been doing a program like this for about 30 years for the men in the greater Lansing area, which is what Small says sparked the idea for the E-Girls Summit.

Presenters from the Michigan Department of Transportation, nursing professionals, and more spoke at the conference.