aisha

CEO Aisha’s Nyandoro’s conversation with Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom

Anyone who does work that is thinking about a tomorrow is hopeful.

I have been thinking about those words from Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom since I had the honor of interviewing her at Bold New Consensus earlier this month. Our conversation was part of the larger event, hosted by Economic Security Project in collaboration with the Roosevelt Institute, Community Change, and the Hewlett Foundation celebrating the progress we have achieved in building an economy that works for everyone, and setting the course for a bigger, bolder economic paradigm for our collective future.

Our full, joy-filled conversation explored possibilities like rewriting the social contract into one that rejects the premise that there have to be winners or losers, or those who are deserving and undeserving. We explored the probing questions that recognize our current cultural narratives and what we seek to create new, better ones. We talked about the seeds others planted before us that we discovered, and the ones we are planting ourselves that we trust will bloom for others in the future. The hopes that we have for all the tomorrows to come.

It is easy to look at all that is happening around us and fall into pessimism. Inflation, suffering around the world, unaffordable housing, constant threats of economic downturn, a gridlocked Congress that can barely keep the government open, let alone think about reimaging a better economy and future for all people. It is no wonder that so many have leaned toward despair or simply apathy in times like these.

And yet, there are still so many of us doing work focused on tomorrow.

We end every interview or story sharing opportunity with our moms asking them what is giving them hope right now. Most often, we hear them talk about their children, their family, or their communities – the people around them who they are working to create better tomorrows for. Our families continue to inspire this same hope for us, and we trust that our work is contributing to better tomorrows for the South, Black families, and people living in poverty across the country.

As we look toward the end of 2023, we want to ask you the same question – what right now is bringing you hope? And what work for tomorrow will you put in today to make that hope a reality?

Your in Service,

Aisha Nyandoro

CEO

Watch Aisha’s full interview with Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom.

CEO, Aisha Nyandoro, testifies before the U.S. House Ways & Means Work & Welfare Subcommittee

“With so many families in poverty, we come in telling them what it is that they need or what they don’t need or how they must govern their lives. We tell them to take their baton back. But we shouldn’t have their baton to begin with.”

Dear Partners,

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to share the impact of our work in front of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Work & Welfare, where we discussed the need to reimagine the current TANF system.

As I told Ranking Member Danny Davis, the current system is like putting a band-aid on a geyser.

For years, we have wanted to share with lawmakers the stories of our families, their experiences with programs like TANF, and their insights and expertise that could make them better. I am grateful for the opportunity to have done just that.

Through powerful stories from our families and the successes of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, I was able to show that programs centering dignity, trust, and family voice can provide powerful alternatives to our current paternalistic and punitive safety net programs. While the focus of the hearing was on recent stories of fraud, it was also an opportunity to challenge legislators to think beyond the current structure and protocols of TANF and reimagine a program based on family’s expressed needs and expertise.

As I said yesterday, “We keep talking about doing an audit of financial spending. How about we actually do an audit of what a family’s needs are? How about we actually have a panel with families to say what is it that they need? What are you dreaming of, and how can we meet you there?”

Once again, I’m honored to have had this opportunity and am continuously grateful to you all for your continued support and belief in the work we do at Springboard To Opportunities. Let us continue to work together to uplift the voices of families and reimagine programs like TANF by taking ourselves out of the equation and instead putting families at the center.

Yours in Service,
Aisha Nyandoro
CEO

Watch Aisha’s Testimony

Magnolia Mother’s Trust Marks a History-Making Three Cycles of Paying Black Mothers $1,000 a Month

The Mississippi fund is the longest-running guaranteed income program in the United States.

Guaranteed Income Is a Blueprint for a Better Social Safety Net: ‘Give People Money—Not Vouchers, Not Subsidies’

For low-income families looking to receive benefits from state or federal welfare agencies, bureaucracy can prevent them from getting the food, housing and money they need to survive.