An Interview with Grace Moyd, Executive Director of Thrive Global Project
We are thrilled to spend a few minutes with Grace Moyd, Executive Director of Thrive Global Project. Grace and I met through our sweet husbands and a dear friendship began! We both love a cozy cup of coffee, playing competitive board games, believe in the power of a handwritten note, and strive to love God and love people. Grace radiates joy and a zest for life in all that she does and WLG is honored to partner with her charity organization, Thrive Global Project, to provide school supplies to vulnerable students around the globe.
1. Tell us about yourself—your background, your work with Thrive Global Project, and how we got connected!
My name is Grace Moyd. My six years of work since college have been beyond rewarding and so valuable in my growth and love of the non-profit field. Each step allowed me to move closer to my dream job- Thrive Global Project.
To give a bit of background of myself, I have been providing consulting services to small business clients and non-profits for over six years. I started first with my own company, WritefullyHis, LLC, a social stationery, greeting card, and wedding invitation company that gives back 20% of its proceeds to purchase school supplies for students in East Africa. In 2016, I launched a retail store, Dashiell & Daughter, to grow WritefullyHis and expand the Company’s reach by carrying products complimenting the existing paper items. The store continued with WritefullyHis’ mission by donating 20% of its proceeds to a private Field of Interest Fund, The WritefullyHis Fund, to continue the efforts of supplying paper and pencil for students.
This previous work prepared me to work with non-profits and social enterprises to fundraise, development and market handmade accessories for international operations, and plan trips to raise awareness and provide financial support in third world countries. Prior to entering the work force, I was an intern at the Tory Burch Foundation in New York, New York where I worked closely with women entrepreneurs looking to micro-finance domestically. I also worked on a seasonal basis with the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado specifically for their largest event of the year- the Ideas Festival. All of these great experiences prepared me for going back to her first love providing educational resources to students as the Executive Director at Thrive Global Project. Thrive Global Project works across the globe.
Personally, I love spending my time with my dear husband, Livingston Moyd, and our sweet golden retriever, Birdie. We reside in Charlotte, North Carolina and enjoy traveling together and playing some serious board games on school nights. My husband and I went to school with Kirk at Wofford College. We met Rebekka after Kirk and her started dating and she and I just hit it off. We love getting to spend sweet time with them in Charlotte, Atlanta, or on our annual trip to the mountains. They are such dear friends!
2. Why do you believe education is so important? How does that philosophy transfer to Thrive’s mission?
Education to me is the asset that can change the trajectory of a person’s life. It allows them to not only merely survive but thrive in the situation and environment they are in. To take it even further, I believe that the grassroots of education are the actual resources that are needed to make the learning happen. Education is wonderful but quality education is the change agent.
Thrive Global Project believes that with distributing resources we will increase the individual opportunity, both stateside and abroad, through sustainable educational resources and programs that engage children, to then empower families. We do this so that in ten years, low-income communities, both stateside and abroad, will gain access to resources that have the power to improve their livelihood and break their cycle of poverty.
3. Talk a little bit about your partnerships.
We strongly believe in partnerships so we are not reinventing the wheel. We know that partners are already on the ground so working through their systems, relationships, networks and connections allows us to focus in on our mission- providing resources and making them the best and most effective. Staying focused on our mission and utilizing those previous connections allows us to touch more individuals across the globe; as well as, monitor and evaluate our programs so we can get the data we need to show that a donation of $15 can change a child’s life.
Currently we have partnerships with Love Does, Silverleaf, The Foundation for Tomorrow and Parent Child Home Program. These partnerships allow us to have updates and anchor into our core values such as Lasting Change, Empowerment, Sustainability, Enrichment, Betterment and most importantly Collective Strength.
4. Tell us more about your current Back to School Campaign with Love Does.
Our current Back to School Campaign with Love Does allows us to send students back with the preparedness they need to get ready for school. We are impacting 1,500 students in 5 different countries spanning from Asia to Africa. It has been a tremendous undertaking and the campaign is still open so head to our website to learn more!
5. What kind of involvement do you have in the Atlanta area?
Currently we do not have any programs in Atlanta; however, that will be changing soon! Our connection to Atlanta is through my extended family. Thrive Global Project is truly a family mission to provide education to those without. My family owns a business in the Atlanta area providing affordable living in some of the roughest parts of the city. We do some work within their communities with our backpacks and school supply drives; however, in the future we will be doing lots more partnerships!
SAVE THE DATE: November 30, 2018 we will be having the first Thrive Gala. It will be an amazing night in Atlanta, Georgia raising money and celebrating the amount of work we have done this year to change student’s lives!
6. How can people get involved?
We have a few ways to get involved!
· Start a campaign for Thrive Global Project! Believe in education and the work we are doing? Awesome, you can join us by creating your own “Campaign Page” to raise money. Head to our website: www.thriveglobalproject.org and learn of how to start launching yours!
· Have a birthday coming up? Fundraise for us on Facebook. Just type in Thrive Global Project when you start your campaign and we will pop up!
· Ever wanted to go to Tanzania or climb Mt. Kilimanjaro? Great! We would love to have you! Reach out to gmoyd@thriveglobalproject.org and we can shoot you over information.
· Share our work on social media! You do not just have to donate money to support a non-profit. Use your platform to share the need for quality education in this world.
7. Where does the money go?
Oh friends, this is the best part! We have private donors that cover all of our operating costs so EVERY PENNY of your public donation goes towards our programming. That is right! 100% of your proceeds go back to purchasing educational resources for the most vulnerable students in this world.
Contact Information:
WEBSITE: www.thriveglobalproject.org
EMAIL: gmoyd@thriveglobalproject.org
Thanks, Grace, for spending time with us today! Head over to Thrive’s website to learn more and get connected!
Let’s change the world.