OUR HISTORY

Mothers are often the healers, champions, and quiet protectors who’ve changed the course of history.

Mothers’ Voices Georgia (MV-GA) was founded in 1996. It was part of a national grassroots effort focused on mobilizing mothers to become advocates for HIV/STD prevention, treatment, testing and counseling as well as champions of life-skills to help at-risk women make informed choices about their economic security and access to quality health care.

MV-GA serves women of color, women’s organizations, multi-ethnic community groups and youth. Factors such as poverty, gender identity and sexual orientation, homelessness, substance abuse and family violence place many women at risk of poor health outcomes and economic insecurities. In 1997, Mothers’ Voices Georgia in collaboration with the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) created a signature financial education program focused on Black Women earning less than $30,000, entitled, Smart Women and Money.

Honored by Redbook Magazine, the U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau and the 2016 White House Conference on Aging, the award -winning program provides financial empowerment workshops that educate at-risk women about money management, debt reduction, and how to reduce debt in today’s super inflated economy. Smart Women and Money has reached more than 5 million women in the U.S. and globally since its inception.

MV-GA’s other award-winning programs include: For Real Youth which educates incarcerated youth about sexually prevented diseases and making healthy choices. – Honored by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the State of Georgia’s Juvenil Justice Coordinating Council.

Talking to Your Children About Responsible Sexual Health.

Healthy Parent/Child Sexual Health Communication for At-Risk Youth

Experienced in providing evidence-based, tailored strategies to reach priority populations, MV-GA programs have been funded by United Way HIV Aids funding, Atlanta Women’s Fund, the Department of Health and Human Services, WISER, Heinz Foundation, U.S. Department of Aging Service and the Georgia Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council.

MV-Georgia also has both experience and capacity in developing advocacy materials and using innovative strategies and tools to create effective communications campaigns focused on hard to reach populations.

History: Mission

VICKIE ELISA

Mothers’ Voices GA President and National Financial Literacy Trainer

Vickie Elisa, a financial literacy educator for Mothers Voices Georgia, Inc and WISER, has spent 25 years reaching and empowering women regarding how to successfully navigate America’s economic pitfalls that create financial insecurity for millions of American women of color.

“Women are the hardest working species on the planet! Yet even after repopulating the earth, we still get shortchanged socially and economically just because of a few biological advantages!” quips Elisa, who has battled her own wage inequalities, predatory lending, housing and homelessness challenges.

An Emmy, Telly and Addy-award winning producer, Vickie has taken her economic survival and empowerment message to Ghana, Nigeria and across the United States, reaching over 10 million women with how to secure a healthy retirement.

In 2015, President Barack Obama invited her to both introduce him at the 10th annual White House Conference on Aging and to share her perspective on how to address economic issues facing American women. She has co-presented with former White House Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and she was the 2015 PBS Magazine New Avenue award recipient for being one of NPR’s 50 Influential People to Watch in America. She has consulted for the Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, the Office of the Surgeon General, the Pew Charitable Trust, the Consul General of Liberia and the World Conference of Mayors.

She is a Redbook Magazine Hero Award winner and she worked on former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign for DeKalb County, Georgia. She was the Georgia TV producer for What Every Woman Needs to Know about Retirement, which was hosted by former First Lady Hilliary Rodham Clinton. She is a WISER – Woman of Vision Leader, a White House delegate on Social Security and Retirement and she has appeared in Forbes, New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, NPR News, ABC, NBC, Redbook Magazine, CNN and C-SPAN.

She is the volunteer board president of Mothers Voices, Georgia, a non-profit organization that provides advocacy and life skills education to address women’s economic and chronic health illness.

History: Our Team

OUR HISTORY

VICKIE ELISA

Vickie Elisa, a financial literacy educator for Mothers Voices Georgia, Inc and WISER, has spent 25 years reaching and empowering women regarding how to successfully navigate America’s economic pitfalls that create financial insecurity for millions of American women of color.

An Emmy, Telly and Addy-award winning producer, Vickie has taken her economic survival and empowerment message to Ghana, Nigeria and across the United States, reaching over 10 million women with how to secure a healthy retirement.

She is the volunteer board president of Mothers Voices, Georgia, a non-profit organization that provides advocacy and life skills education to address women’s economic and chronic health illness.

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