16 minute read
On The Cover
By Tonya Dixon Photos by JLG Photography
Ask Wendy Poteat what Say Yes Guilford is about, and she can quickly recite the mission and purpose of the community-centered, educational nonprofit - Say Yes Guilford is committed to providing access to support services and scholarships designed to prepare Guilford County Schools’ students for success in college, career, and life. Moreover, as president and chief executive officer of Say Yes Guilford (SYG), she has a focused passion to not only see the organization flourish, but more importantly, to see Guilford County students and even those of the entire State of North Carolina flourish educationally and ultimately professionally. “I know that we are Say Yes Guilford, but I believe what we are building in Guilford County would be of such benefit to the smaller counties that surround us I would love for us to be able to extend outreach in different counties,” said Poteat. “I think something like this is so needed especially in rural areas where students graduate and don’t have the opportunity or resources to go to college.” “I would love to see us working in that direction, talking to those municipalities and being able to help smaller areas create industry. It is clear that workforce development is predicated on a foundation of education.”
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Say Yes Guilford is an individual non-profit. It was established in Guilford County in 2015 – one of the first Say Yes organizations in the Southeast United States. All others are in the northern region of the country. In order to be chosen as a Say Yes community, Guilford County directors had to spend significant time and energy fundraising to establish the endowment that would be used for student development and scholarships. Through continued community support, the program will be able to continue serving students and extend its annual distribution amount.
While SYG is growing and looking toward eventual expansion, Poteat and staff are doing the necessary work to make sure the organization flourishes and has the ability to help the most students possible. Currently, SYG partners with every public college and university in North Carolina and more than 100 private institutions around the country to offer scholarships to Guilford County Schools’ graduates. The organization’s endowment has provided for numerous students and, with continued support will impact the primary, secondary and post-secondary education of many more.
Say Yes Guilford Staff Front Row left to right: Warché Downing, Wendy Poteat. Back Row Left to Right: Amanda Rosemann, Elizabeth Paul, Alexis Moore, Brandi Kennedy, Board Chairperson, Alice Moore, Tammy Alt, TaJuana Robinson, Rosemary Plybon
From 2016-2020 SYG has awarded $7,396,600 in tuition awards, $1,953,317 in Choice Grants, and $845,550 in Opportunity Grants for a total of $10,195,467 paid directly to GCS students. Through private compact scholarships, $18,326,076 has been awarded to GCS students whose household income is less than $75,000 per year. The total leverage from 2016-2020 is $28,521,543. SYG utilizes numerous equitable wrap-around student support services that embrace differences and eliminate barriers to educational opportunities. While it is known for scholarship distribution, the organization ultimately provides resources that equip students from Kindergarten to career and every stage in between including early literacy skills training, book giveaways, free SAT and ACT prep classes and community engagement opportunities. Poteat says making sure to properly serve the organization’s community was the first matter she addressed when she started working with the program in 2019. Equity was a major factor. “When I first began, one of the first things that I looked at were the different components of the program, including scholarship and support services,” she said. “I realized the schools we partnered with were Title I schools. It was evident that we had to be intentional about the support services we were offering and make sure that we were offering what kids needed, had adequate access and ensured they met eligibility requirements.”
Amanda Rosemann Chief Impact Officer
Elizabeth Paul, JD
Vice President of Donor Impact
Warché Downing, M.Ed
Senior Director of Data & Postsecondary Success
Brandi Kennedy, M.Ed
Asst. Dir. of Student Outreach & Postsecondary Access
Rosemary Plybon
Director of Communications
Tammy Alt, M.Ed
SYG Navigator & Project Manager
Leading the organization was a naturally progressive step for Poteat, who has proven expertise in public policy, politics and education. It was a position she didn’t seek, but it was a role she knew was perfect to take. Her journey to Say Yes is impressive, but not one she ever envisioned she would take.
“My passion has always been education. Growing up I knew I would go to college. I wanted to be a lawyer. I knew this was where I wanted to be, but my journey to get here was unconventional,” she said.
A native of Sweet Gum – a very small town in Caswell County, North Carolina – Poteat initially studied economics at North Carolina A&T State University. She was a Chancellor’s Scholar and held a full scholarship. However, despite her opportunity and desire for education, many unforeseen obstacles and tragedy derailed her efforts.
“I lost my parents in a murder-suicide my freshman year in college. Then my sophomore year I had a child. I eventually completed three years at A&T, but then I didn’t have the money to continue,” she said. “I wasn’t focused. Really, I was just broken. I needed to heal and figure my life out.”
Poteat spent the next several years working in the restaurant industry, but she knew she had to finish her degree. Not only was it imperative for her professional growth, but she believed she had to set an example for her children.
“I knew I couldn’t push them to go to college and finish, if I didn’t finish college,” she said. “I didn’t want to be that parent that was telling my kids to do something that I wasn’t able to do. So, I quit my job and went back to school. I graduated from Guilford College in 2010. I originally started college in 1991. It took me that long to finally finish and obtain my degree.” Her path may have been unorthodox, but it turned out to be the best route for her to take. After graduating, she took a coordinator-level position with Greensboro Partnership which is now the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. Between 2006 and 2010 she consistently moved through the ranks and ultimately became manager of government affairs. That position provided her the opportunity to become a registered lobbyist, making way for continued opportunities.
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“Being registered as a lobbyist with that position really pushed me into lobbying work. I went from that role to a private organization health and human services agency in Raleigh. I gained corporate and foundation work at the same time.” Said Poteat. “It wasn’t just another opportunity. I always say I have been on God’s journey. There’s no way that I could have formulated this myself.”
She eventually accepted a position with the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce as director of government Affairs. Again, her lobbying experience was significantly vital to the role. “I remember one of my mentors told me, ‘you’ll know it’s time to do something different when the things that you are not lobbying for are the things that keep you up at night,’” said Poteat. “At the time, the city of Charlotte was adopting the HB2 Law, better known as the “Bathroom Bill. It was controversial and it was keeping me up at night because my brother is part of the LGBTQ+ community and I felt so terrible that I couldn’t do something with my platform to help him. That’s when I switched jobs. I went to the United Way. I was actually doing work similar to what I’m doing now.” Before she knew it, another opportunity was presented. It was Say Yes Guilford, but it wasn’t a move that she was terribly interested in pursuing. Unfortunately, the organization’s reputation was in need of repair. However, the position would provide the opportunity for Poteat to work in a community where she lived. “My youngest son told me it would be cool if I could help the kids that he went to school with. It means a lot to me because I live in this community and I’m able to help these students,” she said. “I was in the nail salon and a little girl walked up to me. She said, ‘you’re the Say Yes lady. You guys gave me $2,500 to go to school last year.’ It means a lot to me that I can impact the people and place where I actually live.”
Poteat says in addition to helping students in her own community, she sees the hard and diligent work of her co-workers and knows they are just as committed to the success of the organization and students.
“The staff are truly the boots on the ground. They take the strategic plans and turn them into tangible work for our students and families. The work is tedious and requires a lot of dedicated people to make it happen, but it’s tremendously rewarding,” she said. We receive a great deal of support from committee and board members and community advocates giving constructive feedback and cheers. Community support and participation is a key element to SYG’s success. Poteat says there is a message and request for philanthropic support, but it’s not eclipsed by the need for the community to understand, support and utilize the variety of support services provided. “I see us being able to build out what we’re doing in a way that we’re serving all students. We have on average 5,000 students in a senior class every year. Statistically, only about 55% of the students that graduate will end up enrolled in college in the fall immediately after high school. I want us to be able to impact every senior class in some way. Even if they don’t get scholarship money from Say Yes, I want them to take the SAT prep class. I want them to gain some sort of educational weapon. I want us to be able to say that every kid that graduated from Guilford County Schools had access to something that Say Yes was offering and were positively touched by the program,” said Poteat. “I really feel like we have built a sellable product. When I came, there were some things that Say Yes was still trying to figure out. We had to go out and build relationships and gain credibility as the organization that did the things that we said we were going to do.” With the onset of COVID-19, the SYG staff and organization were able to pivot to virtual options still making over 7,000 interactions with students and families during the first year of county-wide support service offerings, which was almost a 200 percent increase over the previous year.
The overarching goal is to ensure that students that need the most are offered the most support. Philanthropic supporters and donors are critical to the success of Say Yes Guilford and the organization’s ability to fulfill its mission, create equitable opportunities for the next generation of leaders and build an educated workforce for Guilford County and beyond. h
Wendy Poteat President and CEO
(336) 814-2233 wpoteat@sayyesguilford.org www.sayyesguilford.org PO Box 309 - Jamestown, NC 27282
By Laci Ollison Photos by Still Shots Photography
Life Success by Dowdell
A lover of God, people, and history, Mary McLean Dowdell has dedicated her life to making sure that the untold stories of her family are now being made available for the world to read.
Mary, a resident of Greensboro, is the author of Brick to Brick: Building a Black Family in America. The inspiration behind the book came from her own family history and experiences. “I wrote the book to give the history of my family,” said Mary. “My father and mother graduated from Hampton in 1935. They went to New York, got married, and were then hired by the American Missionary Association.”
After her parents, Neil and Iva McLean, were married, they returned to a small town in Eastern North Carolina called Brick. “The AMA had already established life centers where black people or freed slaves could learn how to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency. My parents were sent to gather people and assume leadership of the center that was in Brick,” Mary said.
Once her parents took over the center, they worked to teach black people basic skills to improve their everyday lives. “One of the things they taught them was farming,” Mary said. “Although they knew how to take care of a farm, they didn’t know about the decisions when it came to selling produce. My parents taught them about leadership and the economics of the farm. They also taught them about owning property, home management, and home economics.”
The life center also had a school where both adults and children received their education. Although Mary’s parents contributed much to the black community in the area, no one has taken the time to write their history or even include it in currently published history books.
“They were there 19 years,” Mary recounted. “There have been three publications on the history of that area, but my parents were not included, their history has not been told. Once the school was sold to a church, the church organization had someone do the history of the school and its past leadership. However, the writer of the history book chose not to include my father. Although they spoke with people who worked closely with my him, he was not contacted to tell his history and the work that he contributed to the community,” she shares.
This situation is why Mary thought it was necessary to tell the history of her parents. “There were pieces of their story told, but not the totality of it. I believe black people should tell their history. There are all kinds of books about what other people do but not a lot about what we do or have done,” Mary said.
Mary also made sure to include artifacts and other important information in the back of the book.
“I told the story not as a daughter but as a researcher who could tell the history. I also put artifacts in the back of the book. I wanted to make sure that I could back up anything that I said.”
The book also recounts how the duo maintained a personal life while assisting the community.
“It transitions from historical point to how they built a family while working in the community,” said Mary. “My father eventually left the center and went into public education. He was a principle at the elementary and high schools. He also sat on the local community college board and started the first credit union in the area. Her mother was the first postmaster. They did all of that while raising six children.”
The second part of the book tells the story of Mary herself as well as her siblings, as a product of her parents. “I wanted to include what happened to my parent’s children. So, I have my oldest brother write something and I gave all my siblings the opportunity to write something. I even have something in the book about my siblings who have died. I wanted to be sure to put their history in the book as well,” she said.
Mary is also an Evangelist Missionary and serves at Evangel Fellowship Church of God in Christ. She is a recent PhD graduate at the age of 73, and the mother of three adult children and the grandmother of five children. She enjoys writing, evangelism, and motivational speaking. The evangelist says that one thing fellow entrepreneurs should be aware of is their outlook on life and their situation. “One of the major things is to be aware of your attitude,” Mary said. “If you are hopeful and positive and one of the people who believes in the possibility of life and the potentials that are in you then nothing will be impossible with you.”
Mary says that it is important to keep a positive outlook on life. “If you allow people and life to rob you of that positive viewpoint then you won’t go very far. I want people to know that anything is possible if they work hard. Make sure you are not allowing circumstances and situations to shape you into a person who doesn’t believe who you are. No matter what you want, the skies the limit. I don’t believe there’s anything you can be kept from doing.” Mary believes that despite who you are or what you look like, the possibilities are endless. She also does not believe in limitations of age. “Look at who you are. Look at what your world view is and what your self-view is. You see testimonies every day of people doing great things. We are all born empty slates and have the same potential to achieve something amazing,” she states. For Mary, it appears that life will always be a forever developing story. She is always seeking the next opportunity to serve and to express her ideas and gifts. Although she quite often kept busy with writing, marketing of her current book, and evangelism, she is already thinking about getting started on her second publication. So be on the lookout for what is coming next. To purchase a copy of Brick To Brick, Building A Black Family In America, please contact Mary directly or visit her website. h
Mary McLean Dowdell, MPA, PhD www.lifesuccessbydowdell.com 336-987-6642
Gene Blackmon Prestige Barber College
