As Circles USA continues to expand, the national office is grateful to add more infrastructure and reach to our system of chapter support. To that end, regional coaches support the West, the Midwest, the South, and the Mid-Atlantic Region. Working across geographic, economic, and political boundaries, each regional coach hosts monthly regional community of practice calls for mutual support and collaboration, coaches their regional chapters on a regular basis, and advises new chapters in their early design phase before launch. They also support regional collaborations to expand local Big View efforts so as to have a greater impact on systemic change and inform the national office of regional trends and needs.
This blog series introduces you to Circles USA’s Regional Coaches: who they are, where they come from, and how their leadership helps realize CUSA’s vision of communities in which everyone has enough money, meaning, and friends to thrive.
++++
This month, Circles USA bids farewell to Jeff Tuscano and Karen Todd as Regional Coaches for the West. Karen (who has decided to transition back into retirement) and Jeff (who has taken on a new leadership role with their lead organization, Switchpoint Center) have shown tremendous dedication in their Regional Coach roles and in their home chapter of Circles St. George. We congratulate Karen and Jeff on their exciting new adventures. They will be greatly missed!
On that note, we’re pleased to (re-)introduce a familiar face: Michelle Crawford, Executive Director of Circles Salt Lake.
MY NAME IS…
Michelle Crawford. I now coach the Western Region of Circles USA, which includes chapters in Utah, California and Nebraska. Our chapters vary from rural to urban, large to small, but all are having an impact with Circles.
I accepted the role as a CUSA regional coach in July of 2023. My journey with Circles began in 2017 when I joined the Circles Salt Lake chapter as a volunteer on a resource team. As our chapter was just launching, I took on additional volunteer roles in Children’s Programming, event planning, and eventually as an Ally. Later, I joined our Board of Directors; then, early in 2022, I made the leap from corporate to nonprofit and accepted the position of Executive Director for Circles Salt Lake.
MY IMPORTANT LIFE EXPERIENCES, JOURNEYS, CHALLENGES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE…
Being raised by a single, immigrant mother in a household of five children, I have experienced poverty and understand the importance of community support. As a young adult I, too, became a single mother. Following my mother’s example, I worked hard to provide for my little family and was very fortunate to land a role with a husband-and-wife team of entrepreneurs who mentored me in business and in life. I left a toxic and abusive relationship to keep myself and my children safe and healthy, and I know how fortunate I was to work with company owners who were compassionate and understanding and who knew the value of investing in me. I was the first hired employee of their mortgage business and dedicated 17 years to their company. They saw my passion for lifting others and asked me to manage our community engagement efforts. This eventually led me to consider a move into nonprofit leadership—the opening of the Executive Director position at Circles Salt Lake was serendipitous!
I received the Community Builder of the Year Award by NeighborWorks Salt Lake while serving at the mortgage company and leading our volunteer efforts. Since becoming Executive Director at Circles Salt Lake, I’ve joined the board of two major nonprofit organizations in the poverty alleviation space: Utah Community Action and United Way of Salt Lake/Utah’s Promise. Our chapter has been recognized as the Best Nonprofit in Salt Lake (2022), the 2023 Community Partner of the Year by United Way and Promise South Salt Lake, and the “Small But Mighty” award winner from Square Financial.
[Here, Michelle notes: “I solicited input during our regional meeting recently, so the following responses truly represent some of the many voices in our region…not just my views. I’m just getting to know our region, so I’d love input from more Western chapter members!”]
SOMETHING SPECIAL YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OUR REGION IS…
We are very proud to be a part of incredibly passionate, engaged staff teams in our region who possess tremendous awareness of the needs of our community and a dedication to our mission.
A MAJOR CHALLENGE WE FACE IN ALLEVIATING POVERTY IN OUR REGION IS…
Because we collectively serve a majority of single mothers in our region, we are also challenged by issues such as wage gap, domestic violence trauma and depression, and lack of employer awareness of supporting single mothers with flexibility at work and sufficient services. Family sizes are larger here, so reaching 200% for these families is nearly out-of-reach in today’s economy.
RECENTLY, OUR REGION HAS ACCOMPLISHED…
Great things! Half of our chapters were recently awarded TANF grants for three-year funding. In Utah, we are expanding into Wasatch County. We’re also experiencing great success with piloting new and different ventures such as a summer cohort, Circles Fast Forward, and partnering with Teen Resource Centers in our school districts.
ONE THING WE WANT POTENTIAL CIRCLES PARTICIPANTS TO KNOW IS…
Circles is focused on poverty alleviation: putting in the work to go beyond just “managing” a situation of poverty. True impact happens slowly and our success is the result of education, the power of building relationships, and a commitment by everyone in our networks.
To find a local chapter or learn how Circles USA can make a difference in your community, visit https://www.circlesusa.org.
Read Parts One, Two, Three, and Four of our Meet Circles USA’s Regional Coaches series.