The Magnolia Mothers Trust
Aisha Nyandoro Showed America What Happens When You Give Mothers Cash
In 2017, Aisha Nyandoro came to a sobering realization. As founder and CEO of the nonprofit Springboard to Opportunities in Jackson, Miss., she was committed to helping lift families in local public housing into the next phase—a place of their own.
Aisha Nyandoro – TIME100 NEXT 2024
Meaningful change often begins with having the courage and curiosity to ask nonobvious questions. Aisha Nyandoro, the founding CEO of Springboard to Opportunities in Jackson, Miss., has become a national leader in the quest to end generational poverty by basing her work on a radically practical approach: listening to those most in need.
CEO Aisha Nyandoro named to TIME100 Next — TIME’s annual list of the next 100 most influential people in the world!
Below is a letter from our CEO Aisha Nyandoro after being named to the 2024 TIME100 Next List.
Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,
I am starting this morning filled with joy and gratitude. Today, I was named to TIME’s annual TIME100 Next list, a list recognizing leaders and innovators across a variety of disciplines and from across the world who are rising leaders shaping society’s future. I am truly honored and humbled to be listed alongside so many other great leaders across the world.
It has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks with interviews, photo shoots, and preparing for this release. But I am taking a moment this morning to soak it all in and express my gratitude to all who have made this possible. While it might be my name attached to these recent awards and honors, I am fully aware that none of them have been possible without the Springboard team, our incredible partners, and — most importantly, the families we are privileged to work alongside every day.
Providing Black mothers living in extreme poverty in Mississippi with cash, through a guaranteed income program called The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, was not my idea. It was our families’ idea. They were the ones who told us what they needed to move out of poverty was not another program, but actual cash. They were the ones who told us they needed a system that trusted them to know the best way to care for their families, instead of more excessive paperwork and paternalistic requirements. It has been their stories that have continued to push this work forward, launch over 150 guaranteed income pilots across the country, change social safety net policies across the country, and shift the narratives surrounding Black mothers and families in poverty.
All we did was believe them.
And today, I am grateful that you believed them, too. We are honored to count each and every one of you as a partner on this journey. Together, we can continue to innovate, advocate, and shape society’s future for the better.
Yours in Service,
Aisha Nyandoro
CEO
2022 Night of Storytelling
On Thursday, April 21, 2022, we hosted our first in-person Night of Storytelling – a night filled with shared stories and conversation with Magnolia Mother’s Trust moms and Kiese Laymon, the award-winning author of Heavy: An American Memoir and several other books and essay. You can watch the livestream of the event below!
2023 Night of Storytelling
On Thursday, April 20, 2023 we hosted our annual Night of Storytelling – a night filled with shared stories and conversation with Magnolia Mother’s Trust moms and Angela Garbes, the award-winning author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change. You can watch a recording of the event below.