Leading as a BIPOC ED

with Tanikka Watford, The Moore Wright Group

I am the Executive Director of The Moore Wright Group in Aberdeen (Grays Harbor County). We are a organization that tries to meet people where they are, but we are also a BIPOC lead organization in a rural community that faces challenges, but also wants to come with solutions through a lens of diversity and what inclusion can look like. In the past 2 years TMWG has started Affordable Housing, Housing Supportive Services, Recovery Services, Re-entry services, as well as expanded our Workforce Development.

As a African American woman in a rural community who leads a organization that owns over 38 properties and has doubled in staff and started an AmeriCorps program in 2 years, I would like to answer questions of peers and discuss what it is like to live, and lead in a community that you stand out in. The challenges and race related road blocks, but also the opportunities if we are open to the conversation.

The Moore Wright Group (TMWG) is a unique BIPOC led 501(c)(3) organization that leverages agreements with local and national retailers to donate large numbers of unused and often brand-new goods — everything from food and basic necessities to furniture and household appliances — to families in need, at no cost to the families, while also helping families access services, and educational opportunities. Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty, abuse, and abandonment in our community by providing hope. In addition to providing direct outreach and resources to clients in 6 counties in Alabama, we also partner with over 40 other nonprofit organizations, 5 school districts, and government agencies to reach as many people as possible across the state and beyond.