Natalie McKinney Wins Prestigious Community Service Award

Special congratulations to Whole Child Strategies co-founder and Executive Director Natalie McKinney whose visionary leadership and steadfast commitment to community service were recognized this month with a prestigious award from the Thomas W. Briggs Foundation.

The Foundation established the Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award in 1985 to be given annually as a memorial to Mr. Briggs. The award benefits the work of a local Memphis organization in the field of community service. 

According to the Foundation website, the purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding leadership provided by an individual in an organization whose creativity, effort, commitment, professionalism, and exceptional initiative have enabled the organization to excel in its special mission. Recipients are nominated and chosen by the Board of Directors.

Speaking to the Daily Memphian about the recognition, Ms. McKinney said, “I was really overwhelmed that someone was paying attention to the work that Whole Child Strategies and the community are doing in Klondike and Smokey City.”

Still, McKinney acknowledged that the achievements in the community are the result of leadership and agency from residents in the KSC neighborhoods. “I think sometimes we are short-sighted and underestimate people that live in these under-resourced communities, impoverished communities,” McKinney told the Daily Memphian. 

“I’ve always said poor doesn’t mean dumb. Think about it, poor people have to figure out how to survive, right? They come up with very creative ways that are legal, but nonetheless creative. We have to move from a place of space of being (a) savior, and we need to be partners and supporters in the true sense of the word.”

Read the full article on the Daily Memphian website.

For more information on the Thomas W. Briggs Community Service Award, including a list of past honorees, visit the foundation’s website.