It’s time to celebrate another year of the Front and Center series—a Ms. and Springboard to Opportunities’ Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT) collaboration that provides a national platform for low-income Black women in Jackson, Miss., to share their experiences receiving a guaranteed income.
The Magnolia Mothers Trust
Off-Kilter Podcast: “Self-Care Is Political Warfare”
Front and Center: Guaranteed Income Helped This Mom and Her Kids ‘Actually Enjoy Life a Little’
What possibilities could open up for low-income families if financial survival weren’t always top of mind? What dreams would these mothers and families be able to pursue? What activism and community leadership might arise?
Pivoting Out of Poverty: The Economic Impact
It seems too good to be true, but a program that started in Mississippi — right here in Jackson — has now spread to other areas across the nation. Magnolia Mother’s Trust gives African American mother’s living in poverty $1,000 dollars a month for a year with no strings attached and no taxpayer money.
Our 3rd Cohort MMT Evaluation is Here!
The last two years have been anything but predictable. Despite returns to offices, travel resuming, and the end of lockdowns and mandates, the economic, social, and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to play out most devastatingly in low-income communities and communities of color. Mothers in our communities were fired when they became ill and could not go to work. Schools remained virtual for many Jackson families and both childcare centers and classrooms were disrupted by unplanned closures when students were infected. Families dealt with the physical and emotional toll as sickness and loss came to their own family.
According to national data collected throughout the pandemic, material hardship, or the inability to pay for basic needs like housing, food, and utilities, was a major contributing factor to parental emotional distress. Additionally, unpredictability, particularly in the ability to provide for a family’s basic needs, affected family well-being more than even pre-pandemic household income. With cost of living expenses and inflation on the rise, families who might have been starting to feel a sense of stability at times in 2021, began to again report increased material hardship and instability.
In contrast to national trends, The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, provided consistency and a baseline of support in a world that continued to be increasingly unpredictable. Throughout the duration of the program, Magnolia Mother’s Trust participants reported an enhanced sense of self-efficacy and agency, allowing them to make their own decisions around work, prioritize the care of the children and family, and demonstrate a stronger sense of self and emotional well-being for both themselves and their children.
But don’t just take our word for it. This year’s evaluation report is filled with direct quotes, stories, and wisdom from the mothers who were a part of the program. In it you will see how the Magnolia Mother’s Trust created an enhanced sense of self for participants, provided the ability to care for their children and families in new way, and changed the way they were able to think about work and long-term careers.
We would like to thank the amazing team at Social Insights who served as our evaluation partners, conducted a thoughtful and inclusive evaluation process throughout the year, and ultimately put together this report that centers the beautiful stories and experiences of our mothers. We would also like to thank the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for believing in this work and funding the evaluation.
The full report as well as a shorter summary are available on our website and thank you to The 19th for sharing the result and the story. We hope you’ll take some time to read the highlights below in addition to the full report!
CEO Aisha Nyandoro and The Magnolia Mother’s Trust are named winner of the 2022 John P. McNulty Prize!
The McNulty Foundation and the Aspen Institute just announced the three winners of the 2022 John P. McNulty Prize, and CEO Aisha Nyandoro and The Magnolia Mother’s Trust were named one of this years’ three winners! We are honored to be in such incredible company with other global leaders working to end malnutrition, thirst, and poverty.
The McNulty Foundation seeks to give transformational support to emerging and established leaders at pivotal moments in their leadership journey. Founded in 1985, the Foundation embodies the founders’ belief that every individual deserves agency and opportunity in their own lives, and that courageous individuals can have a multiplier effect through their leadership.
The John P. McNulty Prize celebrates:
- BREAKTHROUGH LEADERS. Since 2008, the Prize has identified breakthrough leaders and ventures with innovative models of change, and put them on a fast track to greater recognition and support.
- DEEP & LASTING CHANGE. Winning organizations work in partnership with communities & center their agency and self-determination. They operate in diverse communities across the globe, touching millions of lives.
- EXAMPLES OF MORAL COURAGE. The Prize celebrates individuals who answered a call in their own lives, through personal risk, to consciously turn their talents and resources to creating change.
- A SPECTRUM OF LEADERSHIP & IMPACT. The Prize elevates global leaders with a range of backgrounds and experiences. Winners take different approaches to making change, varying in scale and depth, organizational structure, and mission.
Created by Anne Welsh McNulty in honor of her late husband, the annual award is a call to action, recognizing Winners who have demonstrated moral courage, a vision for change, and a track record of bold and lasting impact. Each receives $150,000 and foundational support to amplify their efforts, and are selected by an international jury that includes Darren Walker, Cheryl Dorsey, Olara Otunnu, and Brizio Biondi-Morra. Previous juries have included Madeleine Albright, Richard Branson, Mary Robinson, and Bill Gates, Sr. The McNulty Prize is given in partnership with the Aspen Institute, to recognize exceptional leadership ventures undertaken by their Fellows.
While we are so honored by the recognition, we also know that the real leaders in this work are the incredible mothers who inspired and created the program and continue to show the world that when we trust families and provide them with the resources that they need, amazing things can happen. They are our inspiration and the reason that we continue to do the work that we do. So we hope you’ll join with us today in celebrating this award and all the incredible Magnolia Mother’s Trust moms who made it happen!