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First Ladies of Poverty Foundation

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Hello! I am Shatoyia Jones, Ms. Massachusetts 2019 AWOS, Ms. Black America Massachusetts 2018-2019 and Founder and CEO of Ordinary x Influence and the First Ladies of Poverty Foundation. I am a Southern girl, born and raised in Louisiana where--literally every single day-- I witnessed women of color work tirelessly just to put food on the table for their families and then pass away in debt, unfulfilled and haven't known what it means to truly enjoy life. I saw women of color poorly manage money and spend money like it was "burning a hole in their pockets" as we Southern folk say. Overall, I witnessed and continue to witness the generational effects of the lack of awareness (or desire to be aware) of how essential education, health, and a supportive community is to their escaping the mental and financial poverty we all grew up in. We all have dreams of being wealthy and living a high quality life, but we are not taught how to navigate the system to get there--specifically as women of color in America.

Instead, we are taught how to hustle and simply survive through conformity, compliance and silence with the threat of our jobs and families on the line if we do otherwise. We have been taught how to navigate this world around our fears, and really, if we're being honest, the majority of what we are taught when we grow up in poverty is fear. As a result, we spend our entire lives serving that emotion. I am tired of seeing this cycle happen within communities of women of color and allies, and to combat this cycle of generational poverty, First Ladies of Poverty Foundation offers free resources in addition to mentorship and coaching services, an annual educational curriculum, a membership program, and regular events and retreats to help persons of color, especially women of color, step into and activate our potential for social advancement and financial wealth in America (and eventually around the world). Our strategic partnerships allows us to offer free resources in addition to affordable services.

About the FLP

The First Ladies of Poverty Foundation serves as a community, lifestyle hub and service provider for women of ethnic descent to advance in all aspects of their lives: personal, professional and in wealth building. We also serve as a service provider for allies looking to promote their services or get involved.

Values and Philosophy

Curriculum: We saw a need for educational programming that addresses the unique obstacles presented to women of ethnic descent on their journey to taking back control over their lives and attaining stability and wealth. Instead of waiting for someone who take note and become sensitive to these needs, we decided to do it ourselves.

Community: One of the best ways of transforming your life for the better and living a life of fulfillment, stability and wealth building, is a change of environment. We provide a community of supportive, ambitious and resourceful individuals who want you to succeed and hold high importance on collaboration and integrity. To us, you are not just a client or consumer but a valued family member.

Coaching and Mentorship: Just as we believe in the powerful transformational power of communities, we also believe in the power of personal / professional coaching and mentorship. Mentors can be the people you need to expedite your success in life.

Giving Back / Give First: We believe in offering value before asking anything in return.

Fair Trade / Fair Pay: We believe in charging fair and reasonable prices / barter partnerships to offer our services and won't charge an arm and a leg.

Progress Not Perfection / Continual Progress: You can start transforming your life right now. We believe the best time to start was yesterday, and we believe that it is important to appreciate and value the journey over the end result.

Autonomy Over Your Growth Process: We are not here to tell you one way to live your life to the fullest. Rather, we want to introduce you to all we have to offer and allow you to choose which programs and/or services you would like to take in addition to our expert recommendations and suggestions.

Transparency: We publish an annual report of the programs we have created, support and where our donations and 20% of FLP proceeds are going / supporting for you to see and share.




#1 Resource Hub and Community for Struggling Women of Color Going From #StruggletoStability and Allies Looking to Get Involved and Learn Strategies for Effective, Diverse and Inclusive Program Development

Offering Affordable ​Personal, Professional, Leadership and Financial Coaching ​​for Going From #StruggletoStability

   1:1 Mentorship | Membership | Classes and Workshops | Community Events and Retreats

Our Goals:

1. We aim to be the #1 resource hub and community for struggling women of color and under-served youth looking to go from #StruggletoStability.

2. We aim to  provide inspiration, hope and guidance for a more fulfilling and financially stable future, as well as provide access to opportunities and communities that the women and youth we serve wouldn't have access to otherwise.​

3, We aim to empower the women and youth we serve to set and achieve realistic goals and connect them to useful resources that will allow them to make their personal, professional, financial and leadership goals a reality despite their current circumstances.

4, ​We aim to partner with allies looking to learn ways for being more effective in their allyship and strategies for more effective leadership for women empowerment and youth and young adult empowerment.

WE LOVE OUR ALLIES!

Effective leadership consulting and training, in addition to organizational and individual allyship services are available to allies looking to increase effectiveness in their allyship and leadership, as well as get involved. Allies can be individuals, community groups, organizations, or businesses. By partnering with us, allies are able to maximize the benefits of diversity and inclusion, reduce bias and prejudice against the communities of color they work with and serve, be a part of the movement for access and increased quality of living.

CAUSES WE SUPPORT

- Women of Color & Allies Representation & Empowerment
- Basic Needs Accessibility Programming & Poverty Alleviation
- Community Mobilization & Advocacy
- Education & Employment - Opportunity Access
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Tackling Hate Crimes, Hate Against Persons of Color
- Mental Health & Wellbeing - Holistic Health & Wellness
- Social System Education and Corruption Awareness

OUR IMPACT




2019
has been an exciting year for the First Ladies of Poverty Foundation and the women we serve.

We held various building wealth workshops offline and online, created over 20+ partnerships (and counting!), made appearances at over 160+ events around New England and assisted 92 women to create a better future for themselves and their loved ones --yes 92 (our goal was 100).


Since the start of 2020, the FLP has added 6 new partners, started implementing our chapter program, membership program, monthly social campaigns, launched a free resources program, community programming (meet and greet, retreats) affordable webinars program, and is on our way to producing and launching a public access show designed to educate, inspire, heal and connect, a custom FLP course cohort and a scholarship and grant program. We have also made appearances at 4 events and counting!

From job search assistance and interview prep to business building to financial planning to mindset and habit transformation and strategic planning for effective diverse and inclusive program developen, we have assisted approximately ~25 individuals and organizations directly and ~300 indirectly.


As of 01.02.2020:


**Largest demographics:
ages 25-40
non-students
Equal: African descent & European descent


**Second Largest:
ages 40-55 students
Latinx descent


**Third Largest:
ages 18-25
students / nonstudents
Native and Asian descent

Please donate to support our work. Thank you so much in advance!

Instagram and Facebook: @firstladiesofpovertyfoundation
Featured In: Medium, Black On Black Education, Audience Converter, Neptun Northeastern, Medium, and more!
Visit our website 

Organizer

Shatoyia Jones
Organizer
Springfield, MA

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