We welcome some of the newest moms to join the new cohort of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust in our 2026 Mother’s Day Video ⬇️ ✨
Blog
April Newsletter
A note from our founding CEO, Aisha Nyandoro ⬇️
“April is always one of my favorite Springboard months. There is so much going on in these late spring months, but the highlight for me is our annual Night of Storytelling. For the last 6 years, our Night of Storytelling has been a special place where our families get to take center stage and share their stories, passions, and true lived experiences with our partners, our board, and the greater Jackson community. After they share, they are invited to be in conversation with an invited guest to dig more deeply into their stories and expand on their experiences. But this year, we got to do something new. Instead of our moms sharing their stories, we had three of our Springboard youth take the stage to share their stories with the world. Our work has always been grounded in a whole-family approach, and as we have built our guaranteed income work and other programming, we always believed that these investments would not just bear fruit in the lives of mothers but also their children, extended families, and the communities around them.”
We are working on a full video recap of the Night of Storytelling along with some behind-the-scenes interviews with our youth storytellers that will be featured on our social media and other platforms soon. But for now, watch this teaser from this powerful evening.
CEO Aisha Nyandoro’s latest op-ed for Forbes came out this month. In it, she shares how the recent government shutdown and failure to pay TSA workers should signal a larger warning about how fragile financial life has become for so many working families in America and what we need to do to fix it.
If you’re looking to hear from us in a different format, Aisha was also just interviewed for Prentiss Hemphill’s podcast, Becoming the People. During the interview, they talk about The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, the true meaning of wealth, and a new vision for what can help communities thrive.
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We know our regular newsletter readers have already met our featured mom this month, Javonica! But she has recently been featured in our latest Front & Center piece reflecting on her time after The Magnolia Mother’s Trust (Her first piece was about a month after she started in our previous cohort.). She also shares more about having had the opportunity to share her story and go grocery shopping with Vice President Kamala Harris back in January. We promise her story and accompanying video are ones you won’t want to miss!
With love,
Team Springboard
Night of Storytelling
Last month, Springboard to Opportunities gathered at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson for our Night of Storytelling — a community celebration we have made an annual tradition of.
For the first time, we featured the kids of Magnolia Mother’s Trust recipients who showed a room full of adults how smart, powerful and deeply insightful they are.
We were especially grateful to have New York Times bestselling young adult author Jason Reynolds as a facilitator. He met the kids with respect and deep care, creating space for them to have a brilliant conversation about their experiences and big plans for the future.
At Springboard, we believe storytelling is a form of power; and that true change comes from centering people over pundits. Thank you to everyone who joined us in sharing the joy of working toward brighter days while celebrating the wins big and small, and above all — always being rooted in community.
Huge shoutout to our entire team for helping bringing this night to life with such care!
Watch our video recap from this event and listen closely for some highlights from each of our youth storytellers. John, Kentavius, and Tamya bravely showed up and spoke with confidence. We are so proud of each of them!
Front & Center: Javonica
READ JAVONICA’S FULL FEATURE ARTICLE HERE
As costs climb and support systems lag, one Mississippi mother shares what it
takes to raise three children, stay in school and fight for
stability in an economy that isn’t built for families like hers.
March Newsletter
THE BIG THREE
- 1. Aisha’s recent Forbes contribution regarding the recent not guilty verdict in the TANF welfare scandal. See the video we made to go along with it.
2. One of our fellows, Carleen, was recently featured in this MS Today piece regarding challenges to accessing SNAP.
3. We celebrated Women’s History Month throughout all of March. We know it’s essential to lift up the realities Black women are facing in the current economy and workforce. Don’t miss this article from The 19th explaining Black women’s skyrocketing unemployment.
Reminder: Our Annual Night of Storytelling event is almost here! Wednesday April 22nd, 6PM at the Mississippi Museum of Art. RSVP here!
With love,
Team Springboard
TANF in Mississippi
A message from our CEO, Aisha Nyandoro, explaining the recent acquittal of officials in the welfare fraud scandal and how this impacts the narrative of low-income families ⬇️