Jesse Turner.

MOCHA students on college tour.

MOCHA and WOCHA stand for men/ women of color honor and ambition. WOCHA and WOCHA is a program that strives for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Originally founded by Kevin Mcdonald in 2012, created to provide more opportunities for young black men. The program expanded and grew, including young women too. M/WOCHA is a UVA-based program that breaches out into all Charlottesville and Albemarle district high schools. M/WOCHA is open to anyone, regardless of race and ethnicity.

“MOCHA allowed me to be able to connect with more people with like-minded minds like me. Growing up there weren’t any sort of programs like MOCHA seeing through to the success of men of color, so when I got to high school I took advantage of the opportunity immediately and I am so thankful.” stated senior Jesse Turner. 

The main goal of MOCHA and WOCHA is to provide opportunities for students to reach personal goals, academic goals, and professional growth. W/MOCHA has 5 main pillars in their program, which are ambition, achievement, integrity, service, and health/wellness. These 5 pillars are structured to ensure student success through programs such as financial literacy or public speaking events. 

MOCHA and WOCHA constantly host networking events for their students. Nibble Network is a meet and greet where fellow students chat and meet for the first time. Dale Carnegie workshop is a public speaking event that enhances leadership abilities and builds self-confidence. Tweens and Teens Summit is an opportunity for students to tour Scotts Stadium and connect with other MOCHA and WOCHA students from neighboring schools.

 Money Club is a financial literacy workshop led by Jasmine Brown, teaching students how to properly manage money. The Community service presentation is a chance for UVA and high school MOCHA and WOCHA to connect about events that were hosted by the high schoolers. Etiquette protocol dinner was a dinner where students learned property etiquette skills. 

The testaments of students prove how important these clubs are….

Sophomore Amoni Lee reports, “WOCHA has opened many opportunities like advancing my knowledge of financial literacy and etiquette. It also helped me have networking skills, so that I have ideas as to who can help me when I need help.”

“MOCHA and WOCHA have allowed me to meet so many different, yet similar people. It’s also allowed me into spaces I was completely foreign to and programs I didn’t know existed. Without MOCHA and WOCHA I genuinely don’t know where I’d be. I’m super thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the organization,” remarks senior, Wendell Carr.

“I like how WOCHA and MOCHA focus on giving back to the community and doing community service projects. Things like that mean a lot to me. I’m always glad to give back to my community and I’m glad I’m a part of WOCHA so that I can do just that,” states sophomore Jayla Turner.

Liaison and school counselor Jernando Towler notes, “Typically with the young ladies in WOCHA, everybody said they were looking for a community. Knowing that they came to WOCHA because they thought that they could find that community spoke to me.” 

If you are a student who’s interested in MOCHA or WOCHA you can contact Jernmano Towler at [email protected].

(Football stadium tour)

(Etiquite training dinner)