PHOTO | ASHLEY MAHONEY

Torrie Burgess, A MeckEd career pathways advisor at Vance High School, left, with Vance senior Khamiah Alderman, student liaison on the MeckEd board of directors.

Khamiah Alderman wants to make everyone’s voice heard.

The Vance High School senior joins the education advocacy nonprofit MeckEd board of directors as student liaison. She joins Janeen Bryant of Facilitate Movement, Josh Dobeck of Turner Construction, Kathleen Dryden of Bank of America and John McKeever of PwC.

“I was put on this earth to create change,” Alderman said. “Bottom line, that is what I want to do—to be the voice for the people who don’t have a chance to get their voices heard. I just want to be an advocate.”

In a city ranked last among America’s 50 largest cities for upward economic mobility, MeckEd takes a different approach to advocacy.

“I am never worried about why you won’t make it. It’s about how I can assist you in making sure that you do make it,” said Torrie Burgess, a MeckEd career pathways advisor at Vance. “We have about 20-25 students at a particular school, and we only work with juniors and seniors.”

Said Alderman: “Miss Torrie has been a great support system for me. She listens to what I say, and tries to make sense of it, and help me make sense of it.”

Alderman learned about MeckEd while volunteering at a job fair for Goodwill Industries during her sophomore year. The MeckEd table highlighted internships and other opportunities offered through the program.

“I went to the table, and was like, ‘how can I be a part of this?’” Alderman said. “They asked me what school I went to, and I said Vance.”

Alderman was shocked to learn that Vance had a MeckEd presence.

“They said, ‘you have this in your school,’ and I was like, ‘really? Never heard of it,’” Alderman said. “They gave me Miss Torrie’s information, and the next day I went to her, [gave] my email, my name and my number. They called me, and that’s how I’m here.”

Said Burgess: “As soon as I met Kamiah, I was like, ‘oh my God, this girl is amazing.’ I don’t think I was this far ahead in high school at the same level that she is. She was very focused on going into the medical field and being a pediatric surgeon. I said, ‘let’s explore those options. Let’s put you in that exact environment that you want to be in, because it may come out that you know that this is what you want to do, or it may come out that, ‘I’m not sure anymore. I do love children, but how can I fine tune that to something else?’”

Alderman entered MeckEd determined to pursue pediatric surgery. Then she decided to become a lawyer. As she contemplates attending schools such as High Point University or UNC Chapel Hill, Alderman has not decided if she wants to pursue law or medicine. But her desire to change the world remains the same. Regardless of the path she takes, Alderman’s time with MeckEd has put her in a unique position through various volunteer and internship positions such as Feed the Hunger Inc., and TIAA-CREF respectively. Her current internship is at the main Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library branch Uptown.

“I have been exposed to a lot of opportunities that I wouldn’t have been exposed to without [MeckEd],” Alderman said. “For instance, I’ve done an internship at the [Atrium Health University City] hospital for two terms. I did it twice, because I love it. I did it on the maternity floor, and it got me exposure and experience to how hectic it is on the maternity floor, and what the nurses and the doctors do.”

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