We’re so pumped about our conversation with Wande Okunoren-Meadows. Wande is an Early Education Champion + Good Troublemaker and is also a content partner. Content partners help Voyage in so many ways from spreading the word about the work that we do, sponsoring our mission, and collaborating with us on content like this. Check out our conversation with Wande below.
Hi Wande , so great to have you join us again. For folks who might have missed our earlier conversations, can you please take a minute to briefly introduce yourself?
Hey there! I am an early childhood advocate with over 25 years of experience leading and championing community-based programming. As a disruptive innovator, I call for designing meaningful solutions through collaborative partnerships that listen first, engage second, and support last.
In 1994, my mother purchased Little Ones Learning Center in Forest Park, GA. Together we transformed the Center into a holistic early childhood education program where 175 children, our families, and staff grow, eat, and learn about local, organic, and sustainably grown food. Our Three Star Quality Rated and National Association for the Education of Young Children accredited Center serves as a model program stimulating young children’s physical, emotional, intellectual, and social growth. Our Center’s integrated wellness and curriculum program has prompted visits from Georgia’s former First Lady Sandra Deal former Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black and many others and is a frequent field trip destination for state and national conferences.
In collaboration with our teams, I prioritize the visibility of our community members and organization. I know what it feels like to be left out of spaces, and conversations, and oftentimes, it is by design. I have been honored to advise the Democratic National Committee’s Planning COVID-19 health crisis platform in a conversation moderated by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. I was appointed to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s first Early Education Subcommittee, have testified before a Georgia House Study Committee on Children’s Mental Health, and serve as a Georgia Department of Early Care and Education Quality Rated Peer Support Network Advisor where I am in community with fellow early educators.
Contributing to impact organizations and boards has been ingrained in me by my parents. Since we last connected, I have been awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Advisory Council’s Rita Jackson Samuels Founders Award at the Georgia State Capitol. Last year I was selected as a 2022 Good Trouble Alumna Honoree through the Center for Civic Innovation and also invited to serve on the Big Green DAO, an organization that radically reconceives philanthropy and puts nonprofits in the driver’s seat. That journey has undoubtedly changed my perspective.
Most of all, I am proud to call myself a mom to three Crumbsnatchers. May they forever give me good grief and happy chaos.
As a non-profit, people often think part of the work is the hustle and grind. What do you want the public and funders to know about supporting grassroots nonprofit organizations?
Hustle and Grind is over. #FundUsLikeYouWantUsToWin and #SupportIsAVerb
Non-profit is an IRS designation. We can not operate without paying folks. Period. The folks doing the front-line work are also oftentimes the folks struggling to make ends meet. There is something wrong with that picture. I have grown weary of having these conversations. Really. And let’s get beyond livable wages and into thriving wages. The work we do is not only hard work, but heart work, and it is incredibly discouraging to feel the need to constantly prove ourselves. Luckily for us, we have a good group of funding partners, but imagine the frustration if a grant wants to pay for the soil, but not the salary for us to hire someone to lay soil in the garden beds. The soil isn’t going to lift itself.
A $1,000 grant is limiting. I don’t frown upon any award, but we need not ask nonprofits to write impact statements, provide data reports, and interim and final progress reports with limited grants. These reports can be performative. I understand that funders want to “see” but I also think the recipient should be able to tell the story in a way that is meaningful to them. Or not. Just give them the money. Just give us the money. Period. Often times this over-reporting of data is not beneficial to the organization or the community. How many more need assessments do we need to tell us the same thing? It’s not useful information.
A lot of times we hear about k-12 work and initiatives. Can you talk about why you are so laser-focused on the 0-5 age group when it comes to establishing healthier eating habits?
Oh boy, If we know that brain development starts at 0, why aren’t we putting heavy investments there? Teacher workforce, children, environment, and more? Georgia has made alot of investments in early care through creative programming, but we may see a huge reverse pretty soon. There’s a lot of talk about Universal Pre-K. 3-year-olds need to be supported in early childcare environments by early educators, not a one size fits all program. Early educators have specialized skills to work with 0-5 that others may not. The rationale follows that we should make investments in early education and those direct educators and caretakers who provide for them. We know that good nutrition and eating habits start early. Starting in kindergarten to build strong nutrition habits means we are playing catch up. Give providers the tools they need now. What sense does it make to keep pouring money into reparative work and treatment later in the pipeline, when we can invest early and society can see a return on their dollar? It shows up in fewer sick visits, lower rates of childhood obesity, and more.
What do people misunderstand about you or your work?
In regards to Little Ones Learning Center, the family business, some folks think that early educators are glorified babysitters. These educators are #morethanbabysitters. There have been great strides made to professionalize the industry but more is needed. It starts with pay, making healthcare standard for educators, and also ensuring that teachers can live where they work. In Clayton County, I am seeing a rise in apartment homes and developers coming in to make rent unaffordable. I thought the so-called American dream involved home ownership, which involves owning a piece of land.
Secondly, Hand, Heart, and Soul Project doesn’t solely install garden beds. We actually focus on health, wellness, education, nutrition, and advocacy. Our work is holistic. Advocacy means truth-telling and sometimes it can be uncomfortable. Trust Black women. Trust the leadership of Black women. Your academic books should not and cannot be the default, nor should they reign superior to my lived experience. Shut your books.
I am sometimes misunderstood. People mistake my passion for something else. It’s passion folks, that’s all. I still want to break bread with you, even after a passionate conversation.
It was so great to reconnect. One last question – how can our readers connect with you, learn more or support you?
IG, FB
@HandHeartSoul
hello@handheartsoulproject.org
FB
@LittleOnesLearningCenterFP
IG
@LittleOnesFP
www.littleoneslearningcenterga.com
admin@littleoneslearningcenterga.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.handheartsoulproject.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/handheartsoulproject
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wande-okunoren-meadows/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HandHeartSoul1
Image Credits
Lynsey Witherspoon Photography Tris Glaze Photography
