CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As a high school junior, Nori Carter gave a speech to the student body at St. Anne’s-Belfield during a mental health forum about the importance of destigmatizing having divorced or separated parents. She wanted to help fellow students navigated what she knew first-hand could be difficult times.

But Carter’s effort didn’t end with her address that day. She went on to launch a club at the school, “the Splits.”

It’s an example of how Carter turns her passion into action, and why she was selected as the winner of the Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship.

“I am someone who is extremely grateful for the position that I am able to be in today,” Carter, now a graduating senior, told Cville Right Now. “And I also recognize that the only difference between me and somebody born into a war zone, who does not have access to education is just luck. And so that’s really where my passion comes from, just being able to use the opportunities that I have to make spaces better for people.”

Launched in 2001, the Emily Couric Leadership Forum honors the legacy of former state Sen. Emily Couric, who died at age 54 that year following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Her legacy of believing in young women, I’m a product of it,” ECLF chairperson Beth Kennan told Cville Right Now. “She was a remarkable leader who really put a lot of emphasis on empowering young women. This Emily Couric Leadership Forum continues that story.”

In 2001, the ECLF awarded a single scholarship. This year, it issued 11 worth a total of $250,000.

Each school in Charlottesville and Albemarle County nominates a student, who receives $18,000 from the foundation. Then, those nominees are considered for the two larger prizes – the $50,000 Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship and the $35,000 Joshua J. Scott Merit Scholarship.

“This is just their start,” Kennan said. “We’re just helping them in their start. It will be great to see where they go and what they do.”

This year, St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Nori Carter won the Couric Leadership scholarship and Monticello’s Elizabeth Cook was awarded the Scott Merit Scholarship.

The other nine scholarship winners included Ava Ellis (Western Albemarle High School), Carli Esterhuyse (Renaissance School), Charlotte Feist (Covenant School), Naomi Ryan (Miller School of Albemarle), Aarushi Shah (Albemarle High School), Cameron Smith (Regents School of Charlottesville), Sofia Smith (Tandem Friends School), Luciana “Luci” Stiteler-Rosario (Community Lab School), and Jayla Turner (Charlottesville High School).

“There’s so much passion in these young women. And what they’ve done and what they will do in the future, it lifts us all up and reminds us that the future is bright,” Kennan said. “They’re all just remarkable. They’re such a credit to their families, to their schools, to this community, with what they’ve already done. They’re so impressive. Their futures are so bright, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.”

Carter was nominated at the end of her junior year and began her official review process this winter, she said. That included a series of essays and interviews that focused on what motivates her.

“They really try and get to the root of where your passions come from and what drives you to do the leadership that you do,” Carter said. “It was a little bit less of just telling what you had done, and more why you had done it. The essays were more reflective about times that you had failed or times that you had to overcome some type of adversity, and a very large essay about why you do what you do or what you plan to do with that in the future. So, it was a very reflective process.”

In addition to founding “the Splits,” Carter – who is fluent in Spanish – authored a Spanish-language children’s book, “Amigos del Oceano,” which she presented to the Discovery Children’s Museum. She also works with the Albemarle Democrats, translating their newsletters and press releases into Spanish.

“I really became passionate about it, because I really enjoy being able to use my language experience to make sure that others who maybe don’t have English as their first language have access to the same things,” said Carter, who started learning Spanish when she was four.

Carter has also organized fundraising campaigns to support the area’s unhoused, co-founded a local chapter of the Virginia Young Democrats and volunteered in Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s campaign.

Carter said she’s planning to travel in the fall semester while taking online classes, before enrolling full-time. One of the things she said she is most proud of is the fact that “the Splits” will continue at St. Anne’s-Belfield after her graduation.

“It’s been incredibly meaningful,” Carter said. “I’ve had a lot of advisors and teachers come up to me and tell me that their students seem happier, that they seem less stressed about their situation because they have someone to go to. And I’m also incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to grow it to a scale that it will continue after I graduate and be able to pass it down to different leadership.”

That’s the type of legacy of leadership the Couric Leadership Forum was created to honor.