Leadership Already Lives Here
Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,
This month, I have been thinking about what it really means to build community and sustainchange. Nineteen Magnolia Mother’s Trust alumni recently joined me in traveling to Chicago for the inaugural Child Care Changemakers National Convening, hosted by Community Change Action. The moms’ presence alongside advocates, organizers and community leaders was a powerful reminder of one of our earliest beliefs when we began this work more than a decade ago: leadership already exists in communities experiencing scarcity. Sometimes, it simply needs the space and resources to emerge.
These mothers did not just attend the event. They shared their experiences, challenged ideas, asked hard questions and brought their own expertise into the room. For many, it was an opportunity to see themselves not only as parents navigating an often-impossible child care system; but as advocates with the power to help shape a better future.
That is what true sustainability can look like. It is not simply about maintaining a program. It is about investing in people who carry the work forward long after a particular intervention ends. It is about creating opportunities for mothers to connect their lived experience to a larger movement and to recognize the value of their own voices.
It is also a reflection of the power of guaranteed income. When we give people the resources and agency to make choices about their own lives, we do more than relieve immediate financial pressure. We create the conditions for leadership, participation and growth.
YOU CAN READ THE FULL AUGUST NEWSLETTER HERE
• We’re launching the Bless Your Heart podcast next month! Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or the BYH Youtube
• A new NPQ article by Gabrielle Wyatt that includes a shout out to the Magnolia Mother’s Trust!
• Our CEO, Aisha Nyandoro, went on Front Page with Mimi Brown. Listen here.
• A new video produced by creator Janai Norman discusses the narratives surrounding children going hungry and why language matters when we talk about poverty.
• This month’s resident spotlight features Candace ✨