In my current research for my dissertation, I am examining nonprofit brand equity and the value that is held within an organization among employees; the very ones that know the good, the bad and the unpublished. So, allow me for a moment to paint a picture for you. Imagine if you will an organization that cheats the system and serves reheated food instead of what they advertise as fresh. No one knows that fact except for the employees.

Although, these employees are the ones that are forward facing to the customers and delivering the evidence that speaks of the brand. Have you ever been to that restaurant that has the waitress that rolls her eyes when you order the soup of the day? Watch out! She is telling you not to order it. However, when she smiles at you and gives you excellent customer service, you can bet you will leave with not only a full belly. You will leave having had a great experience and a positive feeling toward the brand.

Research has shown that internal branding within an organization has created brand ambassadors. These employees are the greatest advertising for the organization because they have a vested interest. Cognitive dissonance is a theory that states a person will not hold two opposing thoughts. They want their thoughts and beliefs to be in harmony, so they will gravitate toward like-minded people and organizations. This is a huge component of brand value for nonprofits because employees and volunteers are often driven by their passions. This value or asset is not eliminated when negative situations happen. This provides brand equity for the organization and lends to their sustainability.

In 2021, look beyond the customers and professional partners. Take some time to look within your organization to the very people that are customer facing and ambassadors of your brand. Build your brand to them in your communication, in your training and in the professional development you offer. Make an investment in the ones that can build you sustainability and not just the ones that bring you success. Increase your brand equity as you are moving forward . . . Achieving Excellence!!

The most vulnerable population in our community is our children. The very adult issues that have paralyzed our way of life are not easily understood by these little ones. While we adults are stressed to find toilet paper and hand sanitizer, our young children are struggling to get through the alphabet with no mess-ups. They are children 0-5 in low-income families and there is a great struggle to be prepared for kindergarten.

Before they take that big step, their parents are their first teachers, but sometimes that teacher role can be hard. Some say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, in Forsyth County the village has risen to the challenge. Imprints Cares offers a Parents as Teachers home visiting program that helps prepare children for school.

Imprints Cares from the late 1960’s, has seen the needs of these parents and has stepped in to help. The start was a babysitting service, then a full-time day-care center and now they are a nonprofit focused on early childhood education. The family educators that work for Imprints Cares know how crucial the early years of brain development are in preparing for school readiness.

It is their vision to unlock the full potential of children and their families for success in school and in life. The organization’s mission is to enrich children’s development while supporting their families on the journey of parenthood. Play time is serious business for these professionals.

Imprints Cares has a brand that has grown in strength through the COVID 19 pandemic because they did not stop when the world essentially shut down. A brand is not a logo or a catchy phrase that rhymes. A brand is a set of values and what an organization is known for based on the evidence they exhibit. The leadership team of Imprints Cares, led by Claudia Barrett, rolled up their sleeves and made some tough decisions to serve the community despite the coronavirus.

Who cares if the schools and many daycares are closed and the children have nowhere to go? Who cares if the essential workers have no one to care for their children so they can do the important jobs needed to keep the community safe? Who cares? Imprints Cares!

The work of Imprints Cares in Forsyth County during such a turbulent and uncertain time has given the community the support they need to face a new year. 2021 has no certain course and there are no answers for the return to normalcy. Children still face challenges and parents even more than before. Yet, Imprints Cares in their fiscal year 2020 has served thousands through their service to families of young children in their Ready for School led by Berta Andrade (Parents as Teachers, Reach Out & Read and Pediatric Holistic Health Initiative).

Imprints Cares went from being a day care center to now supporting in-home childcare providers through a program called Family, Friends and Neighbors. This pilot program reaches the providers that touch the lives of children that would not be helped otherwise by Imprints Cares. Family Educator, Angela Hunt shared the following, “I often tell them [grandmothers that cannot read] they have such a huge impactful role, I love helping them see their value.”

One of the newest programs in the Imprints Cares offerings of service is the program Book Babies that enrolls babies in the earliest stages of life, led by Erika Stewart. A parent can begin a partnership with Imprints Cares at the birth of their child and stay connected through elementary school to encourage a literacy rich home environment.

Imprints Cares does not offer charity to low-income families, they offer authentic relationships. Partnership with dignity and respect is the brand that has led other organizations to support them. Their work through the pandemic sparked the support of World in Winston who rallied much needed financial help. The Expanded Learning staff, led by Betty West, moved from a before and after school program to remote learning sites. The branded partnership continued as churches opened their doors to allow Imprints Cares to assist neighborhood children and helped them thrive in a learning environment foreign to all.

Several churches not only opened their doors but gave money to assist the families that would attend their remote learning site. One such church, among others, was Elevation. Their support of $60,000 granted scholarships to 47 children who worked with Remote Learning Specialists and their teachers. The Assistant Director of Expanded Learning, Ashley Long, recounted memorable milestones at the remote learning site when she stated a first grader wrote their name for the first time. The workers of Imprints Cares have done a wonderful job. One parent said it best, “Managing the isolation caused by the cancelation of school has been difficult for a 6 year-old. Imprints Cares is providing healthy interaction and learning.”

Considering social distancing and mask wearing regulations, who better to partner with during the holidays than Paw Patrol and Santa. On December 5th, the Family Educators of Imprints Cares hosted a holiday drive thru event that provided toys, crafted projects, stockings, treats and food boxes weighing nearly 40 pounds to low-income families. The successful event occurred with the help of two very generous organizations, choreographed by Shannon Heck, Director of Development.

The first was the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department, led by Sheriff Kimbrough, whose deputies gave funds through Do It Again December so that the families could receive presents. Second were food boxes provided by Crisis Control Ministry, filled with all the fix’ns needed to make great holiday meals. Abbey McCall, Director of Community & Volunteer Relations at Crisis Control Ministry said, “We are excited to partner with Imprints Cares and the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office to provide a holiday meal for families in need this holiday season.”

We have learned through the 2019-2020 pandemic that partnerships and working together is necessary for success. Truly the brand of this organization is their mission to enrich children’s development while supporting their families on the journey of parenthood. The evidence is clear, and the children are the proof.

As I was sending this story to my editor, I received news that just could not be omitted. One of the churches that opened their doors for a remote leaning site, Knollwood Baptist, referred Imprints Cares to Toys for Tots to be a recipient of toys that exceeded their expectations; 3 semi-tractor trailers full of bicycles and toys. The portion that went to Imprints Cares was 37 bicycles and 15 boxes of toys.

There is so much to tell about this wonderful organization as the great news continues. In the year 2021 we will truly see Imprints Cares moving forward . . . Achieving Excellence!!!

Agile minds are not a natural occurrence. Most will admit they enjoy routines and the certainty of knowing what is going to occur. In the current environment with school districts, certainty and routine are words soon forgotten. Agility is defined as the ability to move quickly or easily, it requires processing information effectively and timely to make a decision that you and others can follow. It is known that you become good at those things which you practice. Professionals that have not had practice being agile are not very good at it. 

Entrepreneurs are agile by very nature because they are the trailblazers to make their business successful. They often have to do business unconventionally as thy build one business while working for another. Marketing, sales, administration, finance and human resources are all areas the entrepreneur must be versed. This must be done seamlessly and smoothly, or quickly and easily to stay specific with our topic. Every successful professional has an entrepreneurial mind that takes ownership of their responsibility in the company.

Parents must do the same as they take ownership of their children’s education in the current fluid environment. Each child must have the dedication and the specific guidance to thrive in the environment which will help them. This takes agility. The agility is not just to help the child, but to also maintain a work environment that is conducive to productivity and low stress. 

In Winston-Salem lies a small nonprofit that is as agile as I have ever seen. They are quickly and easily adjusting to the changing environment of the school district in order to help the children and their families be successful. They are Imprints Cares and they have from the onset of COVID-19 served essential workers. They have been known for their before and after school care, yet they grabbed remote learning by the throat and mastered it. When asked, the staff are not without challenges. Betty West (Program Director, Expanded Learning) says they must keep the children engaged and at their computer for long periods of time. These challenges are matched by parents that did not sign up to be teachers and are now having to budget for others (Imprints Cares) to do their child’s remote learning. 

Betty gives the following advice to parents, “Routine and scheduling, day to day consistency! And don’t be so hard on yourself, just do the best you can. Your stress will become your child’s stress.” The City Insight wants to help. One of our contributing writers has written an article about a fun dish to make as a family. It is called Pumpkin Pasta and it is just what is needed as you’re moving forward . . . Achieving Excellence! 

Every business owner has life experiences that shape their worldview. This young college student has been a part of more than one instance of unfair treatment. It has caused them to scrutinize every situation and seek truth. Your brand must be genuine from the honest integrity of your heart. This Millennial attends a college that does not share his ethnicity. His brand of integrity must speak louder than his skin color. Hear his words:

I don’t embarrass easily but hearing my name so close to quitting time put me on edge. “I’m not staying late again,” I mumbled under my breath. I opened the door to find two familiar faces and they both looked grim. Did I do something? The pressure of authority is like being locked in a cage with a large cat, fully capable of taking you out. The word stung like a slap to the face, SLANDER. Now I remember.

A few nights back after staying late and exhausting my polite demeanor, I was eavesdropping on a cashier and customer talking about a wage gap yet using figures from the earnings gap. One is the unfair wage in which a woman gets paid less than her male counterpart despite having the same experience, position and education.

The other is a number crunched by calculating the take home pay of men versus women with no regard to part- or full-time employment. A teachable moment; I interjected saying the difference and corrected her. Even the customer stayed a moment to learn more. However, this cashier took offence to being corrected saying I was deliberately lying to make her look bad. 

Slander is mostly handled in house, we sat in anticipation as the facts were straightened out. I would be lying if I told you I remembered a word of what she said in that office, but I remember the verdict. My facts checked out and although telling the truth might have made her look/feel bad, it wasn’t a lie. For my honesty I was rewarded with a gift card to make up for my wasted time. All I could say was, “thank you for not siding with emotions.”

A lesser man would have crumbled in fear, simply apologized and hoped for a lighter punishment. A lesser company would have sided with the outraged party to make peace. But, it is our integrity that holds weight. Our willingness to strive to be better, more informed and just is what drives this nation and it economy.

This young man has earned the respect of his peers and managers because he stands with integrity. He does not expect what he is unwilling to give himself. His name is A’Donté Sharpe and he is pursuing a Sociology Degree with a minor in Creative Writing. His aspiration is to enter the career field of Human Resources. We anticipate success as he’s Moving Forward . . . Achieving Excellence!!!