When she was working as a fifth and sixth grade teacher in Chesterfield County and Petersburg schools, Bianca Myrick began noticing the special educational and emotional needs that her young female students had.
She began her mentorship organization, Pretty Purposed, with seven girls in 2015. It now serves 175 in twelve area schools from Richmond to Petersburg and into Dinwiddie and Sussex counties.
Myrick, is also co-founder and vice president of Collective 365, a nonprofit, membership-based group that has helped to award more than $35,000 in grants through trust-based philanthropy to groups like Iron Bridge Academy, the United Black Birth Collective and Girls Like Me.
“We provide grants each year to individuals and businesses, as well as nonprofits,” the Petersburg resident says. “When you think about the nonprofit space or funding space, it’s definitely tied to social capital. We often have people who do great work but they may not be able to access traditional funding because, say, they don’t have a nonprofit structure, or maybe they don’t have the right visibility. I’m really passionate about de-colonizing the philanthropy sector.”
Myrick, who got her bachelor’s degree at Virginia State University and her master’s in public administration from VCU, also works as the executive director of the Virginia Association for Environmental Education, a grassroots organization devoted to eco-justice and equitable outdoor access.
She also puts in time as an adjunct professor in the teaching and learning department at alma mater VSU, where she instructs students on the finer points of nonprofit leadership. “The students are required to have an authentic experience and work on projects for different community based organizations,” she says.
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