The Imprescia Center: Power, Presence, & Purpose with Susie Castillo

As part of our National Girls & Women in Sports Day efforts, Central Catholic's Imprescia Center for Female Sports Leadership hosted a guest speaker, Susie Castillo, who discussed Power, Presence, and Purpose.

Thank you to Ms. Castillo and to the Imprescia Center for offering this opportunity to our female student-athletes!

In This Article

• Power, Presence, and Purpose with Susie Castillo
• National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD)
• About Susie Castillo
• The Imprescia Center for Female Sports Leadership
• The She Will Fund

 

Power, Presence, and Purpose

Presented by Susie Castillo

Our female student-athletes learned about various ways to find their power as Susie Castillo shared her story of being raised by a single mom in Methuen as an inspiring example to the students about how she found power, drawing on themes from her book, Confidence Is Queen: The Four Keys To Ultimate Beauty Through Positive Thinking.

Photo Album: Power, Presence, and Purpose

Thursday, February 5, 2026 - Rogers Memorial Theater

Click here to view and download photos on Raider SmugMug.

About 75 people attended, comprised mostly of Raider female student-athletes and some coaches.

Ms. Castillo discussed how she fought through adversity to make it big - winning the 2003 Miss USA pageant, which led to a number of TV hosting gigs and acting jobs.

At the end of her presentation, she answered questions from the audience and took many photos.

"Amazing event," notes Mrs. Olivia (Imprescia '14) Burger, "having Susie Castillo join us to speak to the student-athletes and coaches! Susie shared her incredible story of overcoming adversity and embracing her roots to become Miss USA in 2003. She then went on to have a successful career in hosting on TRL and E!, and explained how being an athlete herself helped prepare her for those big opportunities in her life.

"As always, thanks to the incredible team at Central Catholic High School for all the hard work that goes into events like this. So proud to be an alumna of CCHS and thankful to still be involved in this community."

 

National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD)

From the Women's Sports Foundation

This annual celebration inspires girls and women to play and be active, to realize their full power. The confidence, strength and character gained through sports participation are the very tools girls and women need to become strong leaders in sports and life. The Women’s Sports Foundation ushers in 2026 energized to continue empowering girls and women and to creating pathways for their lifelong participation in sports. We appreciate all who have, and continue to, support us in our mission – and join us on this important day.

A vibrant movement we celebrate annually, NGWSD honors the achievements of women athletes, coaches and leaders, and the power of sports to unlock their limitless potential.

WSF applauds the vital role played by the individuals and organizations who join us in championing this effort: advocates seeking to protect Title IX and advance gender equity, athletes using their platform to inspire greatness, and coaches and community leaders working daily to promote play.

Per the Women's Sports Foundation, "A vibrant movement we celebrate annually, NGWSD honors the achievements of women athletes, coaches and leaders, and the power of sports to unlock their limitless potential."

 

About Susie Castillo

Susie was born and raised in MA and held both the titles of Miss MA Teen USA and Miss MA USA before going on to win the Miss USA competition and placing in the top 15 at Miss Universe in Panama City, Panama.

In 2003, People En Español featured Susie on their '25 Most Beautiful’ list after she became the third Latina to capture the title of Miss USA. With her dynamic personality and as a proud Latin-American woman who is fluent in Spanish, Susie quickly began landing hosting gigs and wrote her first book, Confidence Is Queen: The Four Keys To Ultimate Beauty Through Positive Thinking.

She’s been working in the entertainment industry for over 20 years: from being a VJ on MTV’s TRL, to her correspondent work on E! News, EXTRA, Entertainment Tonight, and The Insider, co-hosting LIVE With Regis & Kelly, the 2005 Miss Teen USA Pageant, and numerous network television shows, Susie has interviewed some of the biggest celebrities in the world. Most recently, Susie hosted the show, Cultural Capital, on Facebook Watch and NASDAQ.com.

 

The Imprescia Center for Female Sports Leadership

Join us as we build this new initiative to better serve our students and alumni.

Make a gift to the She Will Fund in support of the Imprescia Center

Complete the Alumni Update Form and indicate your interest in the Imprescia Center

The Center was established in collaboration with CCHS Raider alumna Mrs. Olivia (Imprescia '14) Burger, an alumna scholar and student-athlete at Central Catholic who has made a generous investment to establish a program to help uplift other female student-athletes.

Read more about the launch of the Imprescia Center.

The Imprescia Center for Female Sports Leadership

 

The "SHE WILL" Fund

Success, Humility, Excellence, Worth, Integrity, Leadership, Legacy

The She Will Fund supports programming, including workshops, seminars and networking events, to assist our female student-athletes in developing qualities and skills needed to succeed in sport and life as they grow into strong, capable female leaders.

It is our hope that this fund can grow and provide our female student-athletes and teams the resources and support both financially and physically to celebrate their success and excellence.

Make a gift to the She Will Fund