WHO WE ARE
Founded in 2021, the BYE Foundation (a 501c3 organization) is one of the first grant-making foundations to take a trauma-informed approach to funding. Our mission is to build community resilience and cross-sector collaboration by addressing funding equity gaps. This includes advocating for the implementation of SAMHSA's six guiding principles of trauma-informed approaches within organizations that support vulnerable communities.
mission
Build community resilience and promote cross-sector collaboration to mitigate trauma's impact on children and families.
vision
Communities thrive because families are well and children are well cared for.
We focus on strengthening relationships and communication between 5 key areas directly impacting children in families.
MEET THE board of directors
Our Board of Directors, comprised of passionate and diverse individuals from various socio-economic backgrounds, is committed to ensuring that everyone has equal access to these necessary services. This initiative will support advocacy efforts to increase access to trauma-informed care and services and build capacity among organizations in family-facing sectors. We are currently accepting Board Member Applications.
Mary McCoy,
board chair
Strategic Sourcing Manager, Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Diversity
Jessica Jacobs,
board secretary
Crisis Prevention and Response Coordinator
Deon Wimbush,
board member
Program Coordinator/Community Engagement
Sam Smith,
board member
Executive Director, GreenLight Fund Charlotte
OUR TEAM
Anaiah Crawford
Program Coordinator
Melody Gurganus
Licensed Clinical Social Work Internship Supervisor
TERI BALTZEGAR
Finance Manager
Anj Castillo
what is community resilience?
It is not an outcome; it is a PROCESS
• A community’s ability to adapt, cope, and recover following an event, crisis, or threat
- Natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, & tornadoes
- Public health emergencies, cyberattacks, climate change, chronic issues, such as unemployment or violence
• Collective activity in which resilient individuals join together in efforts that foster response and recovery for the whole community.
• Measured by the adaptation or functioning of a community following an event.
Strategic Plan fundamentals
Community Resilience can be achieved through cross-sector collaboration, choosing to prioritize family wellness, and building organization capacity to achieve it. This requires both advocacy and sustainable funding.
The Science: 4 Realms of ACEs
Our work is rooted by the science of ‘ACEs’, which is defined in four ways:
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Impact individual & interpersonal conditions. Examples include parental mental illness, substance abuse, interpersonal violence, homelessness, incarceration, divorce, death, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, caregiver separation, and medical crisis.
Adverse Community Experiences: Impact population conditions. Examples include poverty, structural racism, community disinvestment, police violence, lack of affordable housing, lack of opportunity and economic mobility, discrimination, disconnected relationships, unemployment, and deteriorating built environments.
Adverse Climate Experiences: Impact community conditions. Examples include COVID-19, climate change, wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, environmental injustice, and pollution.
Atrocious Cultural Experiences: Impact macro and socio-historical conditions. Examples include slavery, genocide, colonization, segregation, forced family separation, removal of property, and other harmful social norms such as low sense of political and social efficacy and mistrust.
This is image and concept was designed by our partners at SmartStart NC
NOW RECRUITING BYE FOUNDATION BOARD MEMBERS
We are currently seeking both local and national community leaders who are committed to our mission of building community resilience. More importantly, we are looking for leaders who align with our core values and have the time to commit to learning and understanding what it means to take a trauma-informed approach to funding.
Meet the Founder
VERNISHA CRAWFORD
Vernisha is the CEO of Trauma Informed Institute. By educating 15,000+ working professionals, helping secure and manage over $12 million, and directly serving hundreds of families, her work has increased in need across many sectors and countries worldwide.
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She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from UNC Charlotte and a Master’s Degree in Leadership from Grand Canyon University. She is a Certified Trauma Informed Executive Coach, Certified Health & Wellness Coach, a Master Level Certified Professional Life Coach, a Business Coach, and Scrum Master. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in International Psychology and Trauma Services, yet her most significant learning is motherhood.
Vernisha is also the Founder of the BYE Foundation. This 501c3 organization offers a unique approach to systems change work by addressing equity gaps in funding, data, research, capacity building, and wellness.
Vernisha has been a guest facilitator at Davidson College, Belmont, Vanderbilt, and Fisk Universities. She has served as a member of the Early Childhood Executive Committee for Mecklenburg County, the NC ACES Task Force Advisory Board, NC Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Committee, Charlotte Lab School Board, and Charlotte Community Board for The Gathering Spot.
In her free time, she is full-filled, working with her passion project @DanceHerSize, a wellness program that teaches women and girls about the eight dimensions of wellness through dance and exercise.