Springboard to Opportunities

Support Us

Blog

July Newsletter

Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,

For many families, summer is already a difficult season. Kids are home, groceries stretch thinner, and parents are doing everything they can to keep their children fed, safe, and engaged. But when school starts, the pressure does not disappear—it simply takes a different form. Backpacks, uniforms, school supplies, field trips, sports fees and the many other costs of returning to the classroom can quickly strain an already tight household budget.

That strain is especially acute for mothers, who often carry an outsized share of their families’ financial and caregiving responsibilities in an economy where the cost of everyday necessities continues to rise and an already frayed safety net is being further eroded by the federal government. Too often, women are blamed for not “doing enough” when the real problem is a system that expects them to absorb every new expense, every unexpected emergency and every gap in support on their own.

Instead of judging mothers for the choices they make under impossible circumstances, we should be asking why so many families are forced to choose between basic needs in the first place. Why should a child’s ability to participate fully in school depend on whether their family can take on one more expense? Why are the people doing the most to hold families together so often left to carry the greatest financial risk?

At Springboard to Opportunities, we are proud to help families meet the immediate needs that come with a new school year—from backpacks and uniforms to the many expenses that can make this season difficult. But our work is grounded in a larger understanding: families do not need support only when school starts. They need systems that recognize their full humanity, respond to the realities they face, and provide the resources and opportunities that allow them to thrive all year long.

Back-to-school season should be a moment of support and possibility—not another reminder of scarcity. Children need more than pencils and notebooks. They need stability, nourishment and meaningful opportunities to learn and grow. When those supports are missing, the burden falls hardest on mothers—especially in the communities Springboard serves, where many mothers are raising children and holding their households together on their own.

Supporting families during back-to-school season is not charity. It is an investment in children, in mothers and in the conditions that allow families to thrive.

Yours in Service,
Aisha Nyandoro

CEO

READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE

Upcoming Event

Power to the People, Y’all: Screening + Panel

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY

WHEN: TUESDAY AUGUST 4TH, 6-8PM

WHERE: CAPRI THEATER, JACKSON MS

Join us for a special community screening of Power to the People, Y’all, a short documentary by Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom.

Power to the People, Y’all is a character-driven documentary that explores aging, legacy, and resistance through interviews with five founding members of the Winston-Salem Chapter of the Black Panther Party: Hazel Mack, Dr. Larry Little, Nelson Malloy, Cynthia Norwood, and Bradford Lilley.

Following the screening, we will host a cross-generational panel discussion moderated by Tressie McMillan Cottom, bringing together local leaders whose work has long shaped—and continues to shape—the civil rights movement.

While the film is rooted in a specific place, our conversation will focus on something larger: how its lessons on community, power, and organizing travel across time and geography, and how they remain urgently relevant to the conditions we are navigating today.

We invite organizers, students, neighbors, and anyone interested in learning and dialogue to join us for an evening of film and reflection—an intergenerational exchange grounded in history, sharpened by the present, and oriented toward what’s still possible.

This event is presented in partnership by Springboard to Opportunities, Southern Poverty Law Center, Mississippi Votes, People’s Advocacy Institute, and the NAACP Mississippi State Conference.

Doors open at 5:30 PM. Screening begins promptly at 6:00 PM.

June Newsletter

Mississippi Black Women Are Naming What Wholeness Requires

READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE

“Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,

Springboard to Opportunities is proud to help lift up a powerful new report we did in collaboration with The Highland Project and brilliant corners Research & Strategies that captures what Black women voters in Mississippi are saying about the world they are navigating and the future they want to build. The findings are clear: Black women are deeply dissatisfied with the direction of the country, but they are not disengaged. 

What stood out most in the research is the depth of vision Black women are bringing to this moment. They are naming the barriers they face — from low-wage work and rigged systems to racism, inadequate assistance and politicians who do not listen to their needs — while also insisting that a meaningful life must be about more than survival. Their answers point to joy, peace, faith, family and freedom as essential to real well-being; and they make a strong case that policy should meet people with dignity, not just urgency.

That insight matters now more than ever. As families continue to face pressure from cuts to essential supports and rising costs, this report reminds us that Black women are not asking for abstract promises. They are asking for the conditions that make a full life possible: good jobs, fair wages, affordable care, efficient support systems and leaders who actually listen. 

It is up to policymakers to pay attention, because when Black women’s voices are centered, the path forward becomes clearer for all of us. ” – Aisha Nyandoro

Articles from THE GRIO, FORBES, and THE 19TH.

We launched a new creator-led effort to help more people understand Summer EBT and related feeding programs in Mississippi. You can find them on our Instagram here!

Polling Data Explained

Black women in Mississippi are clear — they need more than survival. They need systems that create dignity, stability and joy.

New polling from the Highland Project and brilliant corners research shows that 90% of respondents say economic conditions are getting worse, more than half say their income is not keeping up with the cost of living and 76% say lawmakers rarely listen to people like them when designing programs.

These findings reinforce what Springboard has always known: when families have breathing room, they can build lives rooted in care, rest and possibility. Now it’s time for policymakers to take note and craft programs to create this reality beyond one community in one state, so that everyone has the opportunity to create a joyful life.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

The Highland Project Polling Data

A partnership between The Highland Project, brilliant corners Research and Strategies, and Springboard to Opportunities.

“Black women voters in Mississippi are offering one of the clearest pictures of where America is failing — and what it would take to build something rooted in joy and dignity.“

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE


This poll tells two stories at once: Black women in Mississippi have a vision of wholeness for the future, and they have a precise understanding of what is breaking that possibility now.

This poll is part of The Highland Project’s multi-year research effort with brilliant corners Research and Strategies to listen to Black women’s economic, civic, and well-being perspectives and translate that wisdom into a broader vision of multigenerational wealth and opportunity. Across years of national polling, Black women have consistently named that wealth is not only what people earn or own. It is whether families and communities have the conditions to live fully — with financial freedom, abundant choice, belonging, and thriving health. The Mississippi findings deepen that lesson. Black women in Mississippi are naming what wholeness requires and what is breaking it: economic strain, public systems that too often fail to meet people with dignity, and a civic landscape where participation should not be mistaken for satisfaction. Their responses remind us that civic life, economic life, family life, and wellbeing are deeply connected — and that systems cannot earn trust by treating them as separate. 

Read the feature from TheGrio here

Black Women in Mississippi Are Asking for Breathing Room

Black women across Mississippi are carrying extraordinary responsibilities while navigating systems that often leave them exhausted, stressed, and unseen. This statewide survey reveals a simple but urgent truth: families are not asking for excess. They are asking for stability, dignity, and the ability to experience joy. The findings show that joy is not separate from economic policy or financial well-being. For many Black women, joy is deeply connected to peace of mind, time for themselves, rest, and the ability to care for loved ones without constant financial strain. The research also challenges harmful narratives about poverty and assistance programs. Black women overwhelmingly describe financial hardship not as personal failure, but as the result of rising costs, inadequate wages, and systems that often make getting help feel humiliating and exhausting. 

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

May Newsletter

READ THE FULL MAY NEWSLETTER HERE

“Springboard to Opportunities is stepping into a literal and figurative new season with the launch of the newest Magnolia Mother’s Trust cohort, marking an exciting new phase for what is the longest-running guaranteed income program in the United States. This year’s cohort brings together our tried and true model of distributing monthly cash support to Black mothers, along with a new addition to the work that I am so excited about: for the first time, we will have former members of the program offer peer-led, paid support that is designed to strengthen connection, community and shared leadership.

As families face continued pressure from cuts to essential services like SNAP and Medicaid, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust remains rooted in trust, dignity and a future where everyone thrives. The program continues to show that direct cash, paired with community support, can help families move forward with confidence and hope — while also offering a powerful example of what it looks like to invest in people directly and without judgment or conditions. We’re proud to launch this next chapter in a program that is not only changing lives, but also helping shape what real support can look like for families nationwide”

This month’s spotlight belongs to the children of Magnolia Mother’s Trust moms, whose stories from Night of Storytelling were featured in a special Mother’s Day Front & Center series in Ms. Magazine. The series offered a moving look at how children understand their mothers’ strength, sacrifice, and love, while also showing the deep impact of guaranteed income on family life.

It was a beautiful reminder that when moms are supported, children feel that support too. The series arrived alongside the launch of the newest Magnolia Mother’s Trust cohort, underscoring how this work continues to grow across generations.