Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Collins.
Hi Brittany, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hmmm, who am I? I am a wife, mother to three beautiful children, friend, non-profit leader, and relentless advocate for racial equity. I was raised in a city full of extraordinary leaders and people yet plagued with decades of disinvestment. I was surrounded by family, mentors, and educators who filled the gap to ensure I had access to opportunities to reach my full potential.
Going away to college at my small high school was not accessible to all. The most “promising” students were supported to pursue their postsecondary pathway, but the necessary resources to assist all students in exploring their options were not widely available. I was fortunate to have the unwavering support of my parents, paired with guidance from many community leaders to actualize my dreams. In 2008, I left Illinois and embarked on a journey to my now alma mater, Spelman College.
Attending Spelman College further instilled the importance of civic duty and ingrained the imperative of servant leadership through any field or career I pursued. I was nurtured and protected as a young Black woman and quite prepared and informed for the world ahead.
After graduating from Spelman, I spent five years teaching on the Westside of Atlanta. In addition to the beautiful relationships I built with my students and families, I also realized that inequities such as under-resourced schools, food deserts, and inferior housing options weren’t limited to small towns like my own; this was a pervasive issue across the country. These collective experiences framed my desire to choose career pathways steeped in achieving social justice and activating people and resources to improve quality of life outcomes. I have an unyielding commitment to advancing policies and practices, so people farthest from opportunity have a strong start in life and a future filled with hope.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Of course, my journey hasn’t been obstacle-free, but I embrace every challenge and learn from experiences. I’d say the biggest challenge is personally defining what leadership and success look like for me. Do I read self-help and parenting books? Yes! Do I have mentors that support me and offer a different perspective? Absolutely, that’s my secret sauce. However, at the end of the day, I’m responsible for defining my legacy and intentionally working to show up as that woman in my home, workplace, and civic engagements. It’s certainly a journey, but one that I humbly embrace with curiosity, humor, and faith.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I serve as the Founding Director of PAACT: Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive, an alliance of public and private partners collaborating to improve academic, health, and well-being outcomes for Atlanta’s youngest children, led by the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS). My role is to form cross-sector partnerships and commitments between government, non-profits, philanthropists, the business sector, and community members. I build strategic partnerships, raise private and public funds, inform local policy, and measure and communicate impact to a broad group of stakeholders.
Immediately following my departure as a classroom teacher, I served as a Community Development Advisor at Purpose Built Communities. I consulted and managed approximately 18 community quarterback organizations seeking to replicate and implement the Purpose Built model by helping facilitate collaboration among local businesses, the philanthropic community, the public sector, and non-profit leaders to join forces in neighborhood-led revitalization efforts.
A key component of my current and previous role was guiding diverse groups to translate their theory of change into an executable plan with a unified goal. My personal experiences and early career as a classroom teacher cemented my belief that we must resist working in silos and adopt collaborative practices to tackle the systemic issues to achieve social impact.
My experience supporting newly formed organizations with strategic planning, people management, and infrastructure building unexpectantly led to my involvement serving as an independent consultant to several local and national organizations and philanthropists. I am very selective about independent projects that I take on, but it’s an honor to support every client that has trusted me.
My last decade in education, community development, and the non-profit sector have shaped and influenced the leader I am today in a city that I absolutely love!
Contact Info:
- Email: collins.brittany2012@gmail.com
- Instagram: bwilli22
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brittany.williams.167
- Twitter: BritCollins101
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRe_PXTzyII
