For this change-maker, home is where the heart is — even long after you leave. “If you would have told me when I moved out over 33 years ago, that I would be back working in the place I grew up in, I would have never imagined this is where I’d be for the next…
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As part of the Academy of Hope’s advancement team, Mirvlyne is changing the community one learner at a time “I moved for love,” says Mirvlyne Brice. “I was in New York City, working in civil services and, six years ago, I got married and moved to Northern Virginia. Suddenly, I had to decide what I…
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With an eye on diverse, sustainable grantmaking, Ryan is redefining how funding — and change — happens “I have certainly had a zigzag of a career,” says Ryan Palmer, Director, Washington, D.C. Community Initiatives at the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Ryan worked in early childhood…
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An educator and development leader, Sia is leveling the playing field for California learners “I always say that I am a proud first-generation American. My parents came to the DC area from Sierra Leone in West Africa,” says Sia Magadan, Development Manager for the Oakland Literacy Coalition. “My mother finished high school but my father…
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With an eye on politics and policy, Indira took a major detour — and never looked back Indira Henard has spent the last 20 years in Washington, D.C. — and, for most of those years, she was focused on a career in politics. “My first love is policy and politics,” she says. “I worked for…
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As founder and president of the Center for Urban and Racial Equity (CURE), Dr. Lubin is transforming how organizations think about equity “I’ve always felt called towards racial equity and antiracism work,” says Judy Lubin, PhD, MPH, a sociologist, policy analyst, racial justice advocate and founder and president of the Center for Urban and Racial…
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In her role at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Marissa drives healthcare advocacy and community investments Marissa McKeever has always been passionate about access, particularly among historically marginalized communities. That, she says, is what motivated her to pursue a law career. “By high school I knew that was my path,” Marissa says. “I wanted to go to…
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From her own pain came an incredible purpose—and, now, she’s helping countless women every single day Growing up, Onari Jackson was used to conflict. “I used to tell people, ‘I don’t like girls’ or ‘I don’t get along with other girls,’” she says. “It was always, ‘I don’t get along with so-and-so.’ I had such…
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Nkechi Feaster loves D.C. Born in the city, she, her brother and mother moved to South Carolina—but Nkechi always knew she’d return. When she did, though, life in her beloved city wasn’t what she envisioned. “When I came back to D.C. I found myself in a shelter,” Nkechi says. “Between college, having my son, leaving…
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Since moving the the U.S. in 1993, Vera has been committed to telling her story, and supporting countless families in the process
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