Our Team, Mission, Vision and Values

7 min readOct 26, 2022

First Ladies of Poverty Foundation — First Generation Wealth Builders Community

Founder and CEO Shatoyia Jones at Podcamp

Our History

Almost 2 decades of creating a platform to access education and opportunities for self-advocacy in socio-economic advancement

2002–2012

Shatoyia Jones served in various speaking engagement and leadership roles in education / education reform, diversity / equity / inclusion, communications, publishing and media and community development in Louisiana. In 2012, Born to Be Unique Consulting is formed.

2015–2017

Shatoyia engages in faith-based ministry, serves in various roles in education and community development work in Massachusetts, primarily in the Amherst, Northampton and Florence communities, with some occassional requests in Holyoke and Springfield. Ordinary x Influence Consulting, a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting company for socially impactful organizations is formed. | View Website and Blog

2017–2018

Shatoyia is selected as sole project manager and global literacy and opportunity development coordinator for a literacy project in a rural village in Costa Rica.

2018

First Ladies of Poverty Foundation launches as an official volunteer organization and hosts its first annual launch and vision community partner in Northampton, MA at Northampton Music School.

2019

Licensed Financial Advisor Danielle Tucker joins First Ladies of Poverty Foundation as a volunteer financial mentor and leads some financial literacy workshops in Springfield, MA. FLP partners with Make-It-Springfield as the official venue to host workshops. Later, FLP partners with Valley Venture Mentors in Springfield, MA as Make-It-Springfield stops operations during the pandemic. FLP is pitched at E for All and selected in Top 6 organizations.

2020

First Ladies of Poverty Foundations wins its first grant at Podcamp WesternMass, receiving a grant to continue in-person and online programming in the community. FLP goes on to win multiple awards, Doonie Fund, Aussie Business Top 20, Genuis Guild and is listed as Top Companies to work remotely by JoinRise.Co.

2021

Shatoyia wins an award and work with FLP is honored at 100 Women of Color Gala in Simsbury, CT, receiving honors from MA and CT state governors. Our first official generational wealth bootcamp is launched.

2022

Crystal Ifekoya joins as a business development mentor, Maria Lopez joins as a Spanish conversation partner and translator, a wealth building scholarship program is launched in partnership with Harvard Women in Business and more connections for partnerships, sponsors and mentors are made as we take time to pivot, refocus, solidify our brand and outline our vision for the next 5–10 years and our strategy for the 2023 calendar year.

AS OF OCTOBER 2022,

First Ladies of Poverty Foundation is an organization of independent agents nationwide wide who truly understand the value of having access to the most accurate information and relevant resources for building individual and generational wealth, as well as the impact it has on families and communities. We help provide guidance to educational programming and accountability support for creating a solid foundation for individual and stability and security for yourself and your loved ones even after you’re gone.

We have served 190,000+ first- and second-generation wealth builders around the globe with equipped them with the education, mentorship and tools necessary to accumulate $3.8 million in financial assets, in addition to an asset portfolio equipped with adequate mental, spiritual, emotional and physical health and wellness support with 70 generational wealth building bootcamps, incubator, accelerators and masterclasses hosted online and in-person internationally.

Are you the first (or one of the few) in your family to think about or start the process of building generational wealth? Start or continue your journey with us! Join our community, enroll in our signature 5 Stages to Building Generational Wealth mentoring program, enroll in one of our wealth building masterclasses, register for an upcoming boot-camp, sign up for a mentoring session with one of our mentors, or watch some of our exclusive FLP On Demand content to increase your knowledge on building generational and continually progress on your journey!

PC: First Ladies of Poverty Foundation — First Generation Wealth Builders www.firstladiesofpovertyfoundation.eventbrite.com

Our Team

Top-tier finance, business, investing and wealth building professionals and independent agents around the globe so that you are able to find the educational program, mentors and financial assets that best fits your situation

First Ladies of Poverty Foundation — First Generation Wealth Builders, 5 Stages Student

Our Values

Integrity: We operate our business with honor and integrity. We own our mistakes as much as we own our success and aim to make proper amends whenever an error is made on our end.
Progress Not Perfection / Continual Progress: You can start transforming your life right now. We believe the best time to start was yesterday and that it is important to appreciate and value the journey over the end result. Our work theme is start where you are with what you have; just start.
Fair Trade: Here, your value is always affirmed. We believe in trading fair services at fair prices or in excellent bartering partnerships.
Transparency: We publish an annual report of the programs we have created, support and where our donations and 10% of annual proceeds are going and supporting for you to see and share.

“Start Where You Are With What You Have; Just Start and Figure It Out On the Way.”
— Shatoyia Jones, Founder / CEO / Director of Operations / Principal Racial Equity, Ownership-Wealth Education and Equitable Opportunity Access and Poverty Reduction Specialist

Be the __ You Would Look Up To / Want In Your Life: Instead of waiting for someone to take note and become sensitive to the needs of first generation and second-generation wealth builders, we decided to do it ourselves.
Accountability Community: One of the best ways of transforming your life for the better and living a life of fulfillment, stability and wealth building, is a change of environment. We provide a community of supportive, ambitious and resourceful individuals who want you to succeed and hold high importance on collaboration and integrity. To us, you are not just a client or consumer but a valued family member. Also, we will never tell you that you are “too ambitious.” We provide a safe space to dream big and find the accountability support to achieve even bigger.
Experiential Mentorship: Just as we believe in the powerful transformative power of communities, we also believe in the power of personal / professional coaching and mentorship. Mentors can be the people you need to expedite your success in life, and at every stage of your journey, we will assign a mentor to help you gracefully navigate your current circumstances and next steps.
“In-Trenched” Streamlined Curriculum: Our curriculum, masterclasses and programs are informed by our direct work, impact and research “in the trenches” or on the ground level in the communities we seek to serve. With our streamlined 5 stages approach to ownership and wealth education, we address the unique obstacles that are directly acknowledged by underrepresented and underserved communities of first -generation wealth builders to equip them with the education, community, mentors and opportunities to take back control over their future, time and overall health, financially and otherwise.
Curriculum: We saw a need for educational programming that addresses the unique obstacles presented to women of ethnic descent on their journey to taking back control over their lives and attaining stability and wealth. Instead of waiting for someone who take note and become sensitive to these needs, we decided to do it ourselves.
Autonomy Over Your Growth Process and Wealth Building Journey: We are not here to tell you one way to live your life to the fullest. Rather, we want to introduce you to as many options and opportunities as possible and support you in choosing which programs and/or services would be best for you in addition to our expert recommendations and suggestions with experienced and relevant guidance and support from our in-house experts

Our Mission

AT FLPFGWB, we know first-hand the overwhelming, exhausting and often lonely and discouraging process of navigating social and financial barriers to create a higher standard of living for ourselves and our loved ones. Our #1 priority is equipping first generation wealth builders and second-generation wealth builders with the education, mentors and opportunities that we used and are still using in our own journeys to build individual and generational wealth, attain stability and freedom and breaking generational poverty.

PC: First Ladies of Poverty Foundation — First Generation Wealth Builders signature program, 5 Stages to Building Generational Wealth

Our Vision: 100 Chances Initiative (as of January 2021, launching January 2023)

100 generational wealth bootcamps hosted annually with sponsored commitments of 5–10 years or more
100 grants and scholarships given annually
100 first generation and second-generation wealth building members retained annually
100 financial, business and investing mentors retained annually
100 wealth building episodes available for public access with 100K viewers annually
100 generational wealth bootcamp partners and sponsors
100 jobs created with our organization
100 team members and their communities benefiting from our team equity promise

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