MELANATED PEARL CORPORATION

The OysterShell: Collaborative Community Collective Impact Initiative will serve as a leadership and capacity-building program that recruits and funds fellows of color to organizations led by and serving people of color and  will bring together, and fund as ONE, individual Black female-owned organizations to help address economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, communities, and impacted industries in the metropolitan Atlanta area. 

Approved organizations will receive access to training and mentorship as needed to expand.The OysterShell will bring Black female-led leaders together, in a structured way, to address the negative economic impacts of the pandemic by implementing a program to invest in and fund programs that address economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector. These organizations will be located in Clayton County, South Metro Atlanta, or in zip codes with low Child Wellbeing Index Score, as defined by the United Way of Greater Atlanta. By providing an opportunity for multiple nonprofits to join forces, the OysterShell Initiative aims to increase the positive impact nonprofits offer by streamlining services. Our solutions builds and strengthens community leadership by building sustaining relationships between nonprofits and the business community The OysterShell CCCII Grant distribution will be part of an ongoing process with the dollar amounts approved by The OysterShell CCCII Steering committee. To identify the immediate and critical needs to support those most vulnerable. 

While Black female-led nonprofits in Clayton County and South Metro Atlanta have service programs to address the needs of women, families, and children impacted by the pandemic, they have limited access to funding to carry out their missions. In fact, the same 2020 report published by Bridgespan and Echoing Green indicated that organizations led by Black women consistently receive less funding than those led by Black men or white women.  This limited funding, coupled with the fact that groups face increased demands for services during the pandemic, means that nonprofits and the communities they serve continue to face an uphill battle to provide and receive help. 

The Covid-19 pandemic disproportionately affected Black Americans. At the same time, multiple protests took place across the country sparked by the murder of George Floyd (and many before him) at the hands of the police. Interestingly, because of this twofold setback, donors spent much of 2020 donating to Black-led and Black-focused groups – in unprecedented amounts. While the donations have continued for some groups, for many organizations, the 2020 surge has leveled off. 

Additionally, the pandemic worsened the already difficult financial burdens faced by minority communities. As early as April 2020, 32 percent of Black adults and 41 percent of Latinx adults experienced job loss due to the pandemic, compared with only 24 percent of white adults. Even today as the economy is poised for a rebound, Black Americans are recovering at a rate slower than any other racial group. 

The goal of the OysterShell Initiative is to support Black female-led small businesses and nonprofit organizations by giving them significant amounts of training and funding in order to collectively provide services to and improve the lives of economically vulnerable girls, women, and families in Clayton County, GA and the surrounding southern metropolitan Atlanta area.

Melanated PEARL will support the distribution of 2 rounds of grants over two years to up to 40 nonprofit organizations. To be qualified for these grants, the organizations must serve their communities in such areas as education, health and well-being, housing, homelessness, financial literacy, and more. These organizations must be located in Clayton and other South Metro Atlanta counties, or located within zip codes with a Child Wellbeing Index Score below 40. Developed by the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the score is based on factors such as education, health, economic hurdles, unemployment, and access to higher education and health insurance.

With a common agenda, shared measurement system, and continuous communication among a cohort of grantees that provide direct services, the ultimate outcome of the OysterShell Initiative is to create large-scale community change. By working with an extensive network of partners, Melanated PEARL, via the proposed initiative, can achieve the greatest impact and amass a strong collection of programs and services to help the Southern Crescent’s small business and nonprofit community in its recovery and growth.

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Clayton County, GA are Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (68.5%), White (Non-Hispanic) (9.1%), White (Hispanic) (7.99%), Asian (Non-Hispanic) (5.01%), and Other (Hispanic) (3.52%). Renters make up half of the county’s households and more than 50% of households are led by working women. The largest demographic living in poverty in Clayton County are females, aged  25-34, followed by ages 35 – 44. For the greater Atlanta area, the overall child well-being score is 58.9 , while Clayton’s score is significantly lower at 36.2. 

Despite all of the evidence to prove that Black Women and WOC are influential and important workers for grassroots movements and non profits, they tend to receive the least amount of funding from both governmental grants and philanthropic donations. In Clayton County, 84 percent of children live in communities with low or very low child well-being and need immediate services. 

The OysterShell CCCII Program consists of monthly leadership development and nonprofit capacity building sessions. We focus on partnerships, marketing and systemic strategies. Hosting sessions on key topics to develop deeper insights and understandings of challenging content areas across the community.

• Build nonprofit Capacity: Monthly leadership and capacity development, plus nonprofits will have access to subject matter experts in the areas of strategy development, fundraising, branding, storytelling, and other business development resources needed. The participating nonprofits will have access to free resources, tools, and templates that might be helpful in moving the nonprofit forward. 

• Develop nonprofit Strategies with Like Minds: In addition to access to funding, this collective impact approach will support nonprofits as they retool and refocus their strategies to meet the new realities created by the pandemic. Participating nonprofits are expected to grow their organization and expand their services in creative and meaningful ways to serve the needs of the community. 

The Melanated Pearl Corporation has established two program goals for the OysterShell; first the Oystershell Collaborative Collect Impact Finding Initiative will engage up to 40 nonprofits over two years to increase positive impact for women and families in the Southern Crescent, and second, the Oystershell Collaborative Collect Impact Finding Initiative will engage up to 50 corporations and small businesses in a $500,000 Community Match Program over two years to continue funding to support the work of Black female led nonprofits after 2023. We hope to expand the program through Georgia in 2024 and beyond. 

At Melanated Pearl Corporation, our mission to educate, uplift, and empower women, Black women in particular. Women contribute immensely to the health, well-being, and advancement of their communities. We mobilize grassroots movements, we are thought leaders who shape our understanding of gender and race, because of their own lived experiences, we uniquely positioned to lead our communities into a better future. 

With its mission to empower, educate and uplift Black women, Melanated PEARL Corporation, will develop, implement, and monitor the OysterShell Initiative.  The goal of the OysterShell Initiative is to support Black female-led small businesses and nonprofit organizations sustain by giving them significant amounts of training and funding in order to collectively provide services to and improve the lives of economically vulnerable girls, women, and families in the Clayton County, Ga.

The Melanated Pearl Corporation has capabilities and competencies to design, develop, implement, and monitor The OysterShell CCCII : a multi-Year Southern Crescent Funding Initiative to fund programs led by Black Females. Women of color contribute immensely to the health, well-being, and advancement of their communities. They mobilize grassroots movements that create real change, they are thought leaders who shape our understanding of gender and race, because of their own lived experiences, are often uniquely positioned to lead their communities into a better future. The simple and obvious, but still not practiced, solution to this problem of underfunding is to allocate more funds to women of color. 

The Southern Crescent is large and diverse. Black Women and Women of color have the experience and community knowledge to best lead our communities into an equitable future. At Melanated Pearl Corp, we believe that financial strength and housing security are critical to building a successful future for the Black community. We purposely implemented lessons learned in partnership and community collaboration before deciding on our collective impact approach.  

The OysterShell CCCII will Strengthen Collaboration among South Crescent nonprofits. This effort will allow the time nonprofit leaders have traditionally spent researching and writing grants to be reallocated to strategic planning and fundraising efforts.

Fostering real, meaningful relationships between philanthropists and the Black nonprofits leaders that they fund is essential to making progress. Equally importantly, The OysterShell CCCII offers donors an opportunity to be open about their support for Black women and women of color publicly so that these non-profit leaders can serve as a resource and model for others. The long term goal of our collective impact approach is to create large scale community change in the Southern Crescent and beyond. The OysterShell CCCII cohort will serve as a central hub featuring business resources.  By working with our extensive network of partners, we will collect a strong library of programs and educational materials to help the nonprofit community in their recovery and growth. We encourage participating nonprofits to invite board members and key volunteers to engage in training sessions and funding decision discussions.

 https://www.canva.com/design/D...

The OysterShell Initiative seeks to bring Black female-led nonprofit leaders together, in a structured way, to address the negative economic impacts of the pandemic; engaging up to 40 leaders in the Oystershell Collaborative Community Collective Impact Initiative over two years to provide funding to increase positive impact for women and families in the Southern Crescent. 

In 2021-2022 we are targeting Black female led nonprofits who improve the lives of economically vulnerable women and girls in Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, and South Metro Atlanta counties. At present, almost all of Clayton County falls into the low or very low range of overall child well-being. None of the county’s nine ZIP codes measured scored in the high or very high range, with Lovejoy and Rex scoring at average. Forest Park ZIP code 30297 scored lowest in the county with a 17.3 overall score of child well-being.

2022 At present, we have 15 committed and consistent attendees. We have a GroupMe Accelerator Communication group that feeds information to 33 leaders.  

2023 Our goal is to expand to add 25 additional small business owners and or nonprofit organizations. We seek to expand our GroupMe Accelerator Communication group to 100 leaders. 

2028 We expect to reach over 250 small businesses and nonprofits through GA. We seek to expand our GroupMe Accelerator Communication group to 1,000 plus leaders. 

Our collective impact approach involves a structured process that leads to a common agenda, shared measurement system, and continuous communication among a cohort of grantees that provide direct services.

Regina DeLoach, serves as present Chair - Invest Clayton. She disbursed $500,000.00 in Small Business Grants during 2020 and collaborated with the Board of Commissioners to disburse $1 Million in local county small business grants.

As Peas In Their Pods, Inc. president Gaétane Borders is determined to make an impact in how safe the world is for families. Their mission is to give a voice to missing children of color and their families and to fight against child abuse and sexual exploitation.

Trina Ko is a wife, mother, and co-ownerThe Best of Clayton County is the ultimate community resource guide for everything Clayton County, GA. 

With over two decades experience in political campaigns and representing local, state and federal government, Sukari Scott-Johnson M.P.A serves as the Clayton County Democratic Party. 

Tammary Scott is the Owner of B’Mari Event and Art Studio LLC and Founder of Tenacity Works, Inc.501c3.

Rental Assistance Program Highlight

Established in 2018, Melanated Pearl Corporation has proven that it has the capabilities, staff, and competencies to engage volunteers and funders, implement programs with fidelity while managing grants and donor funds responsibility. During FY 3 2020-2021, Melanated Pearl Corporation oversaw the distribution of over $50,000 in payments to apartments, rental properties, and property management firms as part of the Mother of PEARL Transitional Housing and Eviction Prevention Program. We received over 75 applications for assistance. As part of the program,  we invested over $12,000 into the Riverdale Clayton Apartments preventing eviction for 11 families in Clayton County.  During the negotiation process, we were able to connect with the regional manager who met with the property manager and I via phone for 3 plus hours and removed over $1,500 in late fees to ensure balances were paid in full.  At Melanated Pearl Corp, we believe that financial strength and housing security are critical to building a successful future for the Black community. 

The OysterShell CCCII Steering Committee (hereinafter Steering Committee) will steer the  project through from start to completion. 

The OysterShell CCCII will be led by Black Women in Business and/or nonprofit executive directors who identify as women of color. The Steering Committee is made up of representatives of key organizations who are partners in the project, and/or who have particular expertise to lend to the project, and/or whose clients are the intended users of the output of the project. Collectively the members have over 100 years of experience leading teams, implementing service programs, community organizing, and managing funds. 

That said, when designing the OysterShell initiative, we purposely implemented lessons learned in partnership and community collaboration before deciding on our collective impact approach.  This collaborative collective impact initiative will build and utilize a Steering Committee to oversee our guided approach to strengthen each organization's fundraising efforts, board engagement, strategy development, and offer opportunities to have more thoughtful conversations about moving forward during uncertainty.

The matrix represents some of the key competencies that have been identified as valuable for the effective oversight of the OysterShell Funding Initiative.  The matrix highlights the depth and breadth of competencies on the OysterShell Steering Committee.

The OysterShell CCCII Steering Committee (hereinafter Steering Committee) will steer the  project through from start to completion. 

The OysterShell CCCII will be led by Black Women in Business and/or nonprofit executive directors who identify as women of color. The Steering Committee is made up of representatives of key organizations who are partners in the project, and/or who have particular expertise to lend to the project, and/or whose clients are the intended users of the output of the project. Collectively the members have over 100 years of experience leading teams, implementing service programs, community organizing, and managing funds. 

Crystal Perry, founder of Melanated Pearl Corporation will serve as the primary point of contact for The OysterShell Funding Initiative. Crystal has the knowledge and expertise to streamline current business processes to support new program implementation on a national level and participate in strategic initiatives that expand the partnership and the collective impact initiative and support the launch of additional partnerships in Cohort 2. She has the skills, experience and capacity to: Customize Training and Leadership Development, Implement a Strategic Planning and Manage Operation Scaling, and Lead Quality Assurance and Educational Coaching. 

Regina DeLoach, serves as present Chair - Invest Clayton. She disbursed $500,000.00 in Small Business Grants during 2020 and collaborated with the Board of Commissioners to disburse $1M in small business grants. Regina is personally and professionally committed to transparency in government, supporting our workforce, and improving technology in our county offices bringing  more resources into Clayton to better serve youth, veterans and our growing senior community. As Chair of Invest Clayton Regina Deloach is credited with creating the Small Business Grant that assisted more than 200 businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Regina Deloach’s notable accomplishments to date include creating the Small Business Grants to develop the 26 acres across from Clayton State College and increasing Workforce Training.

As Peas In Their Pods, Inc. president Gaétane is determined to make an impact in how safe the world is for families. Peas In Their Pods, Inc. (PEAS) is an established 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization, founded in 2007, whose mission is to give a voice to missing children of color and their families and to fight against child abuse and sexual exploitation. She is an advocate who works tirelessly to help parents achieve healthy, harmonious, and emotionally stable environments for their children. Gaétane’s continuous desire to impact communities is observed in her commitment to providing seminars and community events during which both parents and children learn life saving preventative measures. Gaetane is an experienced School Psychologist and K12 School Administrative Leader with over 20 years of experience in public and private educational systems. She holds specific skills in Special Education, Learning Disabilities, Staff Development, as well as in Training and Leadership. She is an advocate of children's rights, and works tirelessly to help parents achieve healthy, harmonious, and emotionally stable environments for children.

Trina Ko is a wife, mother, and co-ownerThe Best of Clayton County , your ultimate community resource guide for everything Clayton County, Georgia. If you are looking for it, you can find it on ourThe Best of Clayton County website. They have a page for non-profit organizations and handy government links. TBofCC also wants to help build a sense of community pride and help residents connect with one another. This is why they make it a point to share the positive or "best" of Clayton County. They also have a community meetup group where we get together for walks, hikes, or community events. And most importantly, the meetup group is free to join. Trina is a subject matter expert in the areas of Business Services, Consultations, and Promotional and Marketing Partnerships. Whether you are visiting for the first time, a current resident, or a future resident, easily find everything you need with The Best of Clayton County. The Best of Clayton County is proud of the work that they do to support the business owners here in our community. 

Sukari Johnson. With over two decades experience in political campaigns and representing local, state and federal government, Sukari Scott-Johnson M.P.A serves as the Clayton County Democratic Party. She has expertise in advising campaigns on virtually all of their activities, from opposition research, voter polling to field strategy to get out the vote.Additionally, she worked with the Office of Programs and Transition Services at Department of Juvenile Justice. Working with the education department to place juveniles back into the community through a program called ``Think Exit at Entry” transitional services for youth after release from Youth Detention Centers.

Tammary Scott is the Owner of B’Mari Event and Art Studio LLC and Founder of Tenacity Works, Inc.501c3. Before launching her business she served 5 years at the Georgia Department of Labor where she actively facilitated training programs and workshops for customers to enhance and establish their marketable skills in interviewing and résumé writing capability to become gainfully employed. Creatively implement materials and provide training for weekly workshops held daily in the career center that focus on specific areas of interviewing techniques, résumé writing and basic computer skills. Proactively consult with employers to discuss their hiring needs as well as develop and create a hiring strategy with requirements to establish recruitment efforts and follow-up how productive of placement for candidates.She seamlessly collaborated with colleagues in the Learning and Development organizations to ensure all learning objects were adequately correlated and cross-referenced with each other for a seamless learning experience.

The OysterShell CCCII Steering Committee will support nonprofit recruiting and onboarding and oversee funding distribution. The OysterShell Grantees will take a range of approaches to advancing the economic security of women and girls of color based on their specific communities' needs.

The OysterShell CCCII Steering Committee’s role is to provide advice, ensure delivery of the project outputs and the achievement of program outcomes. 

This may include such tasks as: 

• Providing input to the development of the projects and subgrants, including the evaluation strategy; 

• Providing advice on the budget; 

• Defining and helping to achieve the program outcomes, 

• Identifying the priorities in the project – where the most energy should be directed; Identifying potential risks; 

• Monitoring risks; 

• Monitoring timelines; 

• Monitoring the quality of the project as it develops; as well as 

• Providing advice (and sometimes making decisions) about changes to the project as it develops.

We are transparent with our community. Our funding priorities are grounded in increasing investments in Black female led nonprofits serving The Southern Crescent for families, women and girls of color, their leadership, their futures, and their economic security. 

GuideStar Profile: Link HERE

Corporate /Business Match Program 

Melanated Pearl Corp seeks to match $500,000 in funding by developing donor relationships with the Southern Crescent business community. The  OysterShell CCCII Corporate/Business Match Program  benefits both corporations and nonprofit organizations. Companies get to enjoy brand promotion and boost their name in the community across multiple nonprofits while meeting their social responsibility goals, and the nonprofits bring in donations that increase their reach while driving their missions forward. 

• Once we've secured corporate partnerships, The OysterShell will promote this giving opportunity on all nonprofit channels. We will recognize and tag the company in our outreach with visuals and note the amount they’re matching up to.

1. Melanated Pearl Corporation will engage up to 40 nonprofits in the The Oystershell Collaborative Collect Impact Finding Initiative over two years to increase positive impact and capital building for organizations serving women and families in the Clayton County, GA. 

• Imagine a grant that’s for $20,000 that takes a nonprofit on average 10 hours to apply for. 10 hours for 20K is not bad, right? But let’s say that 100 organizations applied, and only 5 are selected. This means that 95 organizations wasted a collective 950 hours. Multiply this by thousands of other grants across the sector, and we can agree that many nonprofit leaders are pouring millions of potential service hours down the drain every single year. The OysterShell CCCII secures funding, allowing nonprofit leaders to transfer the time typically spent completing grant applications into direct service hours and programming that positively impacts the community. 

The Oystershell Collaborative Collect Impact Finding Initiative will engage up to 50 corporations and small businesses in a $500,000 Community Match Program over two years to continue funding to support the work of Black female lead nonprofits after 2024. 

• The OysterShell Southern Crescent Matching gift program can effectively double our impact and increase the reach of the approved and participating nonprofits and additional grants made to the collective nonprofit group. 

The OysterShell Steering Committee will research and develop a list of 50 businesses  in the Southern Crescent with a request of $10,000 over two years (two $5,000 deposits - Annual Contribution in 2022 and 2023). 

Crystal Perry is wife, mom, educational leader, youth advocate, community organizer. She is a graduate of Agnes Scott College with a BA in Africana Studies 2000, she received a MA in Early Childhood Education from Georgia State University 2003, and a MA in Writing & Digital Communication from Agnes Scott in May 2020. 

Crystal is a competent results-driven professional development expert and Master Trainer with years of experience supporting the education, nonprofit, and corporate learning industry. Crystal hands-on experience in the creation, design, and delivery of full-service professional development for adult leaders, staff, and students. She is known for empowering equity focused and mission-driven organizations through targeted professional development, knowledge transfer and best practice sharing.

Crystal assists schools, districts, nonprofits, and mission focused corporations to design, develop, implement and evaluate professional development and training using technology platforms to increase positive impact on target communities. She is often described as an educational leadership development coach and digital designer. People often look at the sea of black communities and wonder, what our main resource is, what is that we have in the waters of our communities that is of value and worth. The short answer is, each other. We are our greatest strength, our greatest treasure. 

In these precarious times when industries and businesses are pivoting, and either finding their feet on shaky ground or the rug being pulled completely from under them, I have found great success when I bring women of color together as we swim toward our collective dreams.

Crystal R. Perry is supported by a diverse group of Black females that have experience running both for-profit and non-profit ventures. Specifically, our board of directors and team of volunteers have solid experience in organizing events, marketing to the local community and achieving key goals.

Despite all of the evidence to prove that Black Women and WOC are influential and important workers for grassroots movements and non profits, they tend to receive the least amount of funding from both governmental grants and philanthropic donations. In Clayton County, 84 percent of children live in communities with low or very low child well-being and need immediate services. Without collective small business and nonprofit advocacy, Black female led leaders in Clayton County, GA will continue to be  left out of the major state and federal relief funding and legislation.

Generous support from foundation like Truist and MIT enable organization to serve. As we serve, the women and families from our community to become self-sufficient. Your donations assist us in providing them with a safe living environment, educational opportunities, and the life skills that they will need to become independent and self-supporting women, and loving mothers to their children. 

By funding, Melanated PEARL, via the proposed initiative, we can achieve the greatest impact and amass a strong collection of programs and services to help the Southern Crescent’s small business and nonprofit community in its recovery and growth.

Melanated Pearl Corporation is 100 percent reliant on volunteers for program services and grants for funding. We need to develop the capacity of our organization to raise the funds and other resources that it needs to operate, secure funds to hire, and  other resources in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the United States in 2020, many small business and nonprofits organizations grappled with its devastating impacts on public health and the global economy and the varied ways in which it deepened longstanding disparities along racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender lines. We were no different, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Melanated PEARL Corporation had to quickly shift our operations and service delivery model. At present, the Melanated Pearl Corporation is 100 percent reliant on volunteers for program services and grants for funding. Our greatest need is to develop the capacity of our organization to raise the funds and other resources that it needs to operate, including partnering with others to support the organization and secure funds to hire, manage the development of, use and retention of its human and other resources in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Our president, Crystal Perry has transitioned her to full time the organization and will commit the time to actively engage in the 18 month capacity building program.

Clayton County Government - A collaborative nonprofit group desires to acquire the former Clayton County Mental Health Center at 1800 Slate Rd, to operate a supportive housing and training residential facility that can house various segments of the chronically and literally homeless community.  Employing a housing-first model, we would stabilize citizens in this facility for up to 12 months while plans are being made and implemented to transition them into more long-term housing arrangements.

The Slate Rd Community Outreach Center will provide comprehensive access to supportive housing, health and social services, training, employment services, and meals. 

The Clayton County Residential Adult Training Center is committed to meeting the needs of adults in the Clayton County community by offering wrap-around services coupled with personalized professional development as well as access to teaching and learning processes that prepare them to participate fully in a global society.

Ujima Way was established in 2017 and is committed to combating and eradicating homelessness within Clayton County.

Simplistic Restored Living is an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping local families in need thrive during times of hardship.