Feature Stories
Nadia Brigham, '99 & '01 & '02
Growing up in Benton Harbor, Nadia Brigham ’99, ’01, &
‘02experienced first-hand a level of poverty that has crippled so much
of America’s youth. But instead of letting it defeat her, she has used
her experiences as a source of inspiration to break the cycle of
poverty and help to put the communities of West Michigan back on track.
Brigham’s high school was part of a desegregation program in the
1990s. She calls the experience a “blessing” that allowed her to see
the extremes that occur in society.
“The drive from my house to school was a demonstration in the
disparities that exist in relatively short distances,” she said. “I
learned, from my experience and education, that those disparities are
often exacerbated and perpetuated by policies in a way that don’t
allow people to escape poverty.”
Brigham knew she could make a difference. Although she already
had the passion and the concepts, she needed the know-how to carry out
her strategy, so she enrolled in the undergraduate social work program
at Grand Valley and let her ideas thrive. In graduate school, Brigham
was the President of the Master of Social Work Student Organization
and helped it raise awareness of the issues concerning class, race,
and injustice. Her professional goals grew with her academic
ambitions. While in undergrad, Brigham worked with Wedgewood Christian
Services as the assistant supervisor in resident treatment. From
there, she shifted to the Hope Network and then to Heart of West
Michigan United Way where she succeeded at becoming their senior
community investment associate. What began as a desire to help the
individuals quickly evolved into a growing project to correct the
inequalities that prevent people from living a meaningful and
productive life.
Now, as Program Officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Brigham
has the ability to sway unjust conditions by investing in initiatives
that will promote the organization's place-based strategies: Educated
Kids, Healthy Kids, Secure Families using Racial Equality, and Civic
Engagement as embedded. Through these investments, Brigham strives to
bring the attention a capacity back to the community, thus changing
conditions so that the individual won’t slip through the cracks.
The work at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation allows me to look at how
to create conditions to improve the quality of life for vulnerable
children,” she said.
Her work also extends to the New Options Project, a $45 million
project that creates pathways toward meaningful employment for young
adults. Through this project, Brigham serves as a conductor for the
development of innovative tools and approaches that will solve
workforce pain point for employers and illuminated employment pathways
for disconnected young adults. Locally, she also serves on the
steering committee of the Collective Impact Initiative, the Kent
County Family and Children Coordinating Council, the executive
committee of the Great Start Initiative, the Talent 2025 advisory
committee, and the Kent School Services leadership team.
This year, Brigham was awarded with the Young Nonprofit
Professionals Network Grant-Making Guru Award for her dedication to
community investment and the creation of important partnerships
between neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations and foundations of
West Michigan. She hopes to see more of these relationships develop in
the coming years.
“I love philanthropy and hope to enjoy a long career in
philanthropy, leveraging dollars to improve the quality of life of
vulnerable people,” she said. “Whatever I’m doing, I know it will be
about serving people and probably those who are vulnerable.”
Updated January 2013.
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