Meet Dr. Sharmon Monagan | Founder + CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Sharmon Monagan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Sharmon, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
I was recently asked what word best describes me. I reached out to some people that I know personally and professionally to get a more objective assessment. The word that kept coming back was resiliency. Resilience is the ability to bounce back and recover quickly from difficulties, challenges, or when things in life do not go your way. Resiliency has been essential to thriving personally and professionally during this past year of the global pandemic. There are several critical areas of resiliency that require both internal and external work including competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control. Although resiliency is not a habit; there are habits that lends itself to resiliency comprising of self-care; mindfulness; forgiving yourself for mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and moving forward; creating and tending to positive, purposeful relationships; staying focused; continuing to learn, staying focused, and setting big, clear goals.

What should our readers know about your business?
I created The Swinney Foundation in honor of my parents, who are both deceased. I needed some outlet for my grief. My parents were very hardworking people. My mom from rural Georgia and my pop from the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, as he used to say “before it was trendy”, and college was not an option for them. They believed in people getting the work-ready skills needed so they could quickly move into the workforce to take care of their families. I initially partnered with Georgia Piedmont Technical College to provide scholarships for single parents, being a single parent myself. From there, the foundation has grown to providing scholarships, book stipends, funding for college food banks, advocating for policies that impact single parents, and providing other resources for single parents and their children. One of the events we did this year made me extremely proud and filled me with pure joy. We had people submit the names of single parent friends and family members. We mailed candy grams to these single parents. Being a parent is one of the most challenging and rewarding undertakings in life. Being a single parent is even more challenging and at times unappreciated. And sending these candy grams was our simple way of showing some love to parents that are often overlooked. We received so much feedback that people were crying, grateful, and overwhelmed for such a “sweet” recognition. It was also great feeling for the people that recommended the single parents and overall, well received by the public at large. It was not a scholarship or some other resource, but it was still very meaningful and impactful.

There is so much to be proud of but there is always more work to do. Being a nonprofit, money is always an issue because you are not selling a product or service. Raising money during a pandemic has presented its own challenges. Once again, we had to learn to think outside the box, be creative, and be flexible. Our brand is about caring, caring for single parents but also caring for the broader community. I truly believe when you support single parents, it empowers them to support their children and build stronger communities. We continue to do this work and look for more opportunities to serve.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The last place I went to before everything shut down due to the pandemic was Buteco. It’s a Brazilian coffeehouse in the Grant Park area. I had one of my best nights with live music and samba dancing. I am the most off beat person you will ever meet but there was such a sense of community. Everyone was up dancing or trying to dance the samba. It was just a great night! Good music, people, and drinks! This is what I am looking forward to once things get back to normal. Fernbank: After Dark is good for live music, drinks, and hands on museum experience. You can get in some good exercise, people watch, and pick from your choice of good restaurants and wine bars on the Atlanta Beltline. I would definitely take guests to the rooftop of Ponce City Market for some fun games and then head across the street for and at Tacos and Tequilas. The Sky Lounge at The Glen Hotel is a great rooftop bar and music. Beautiful views and a very chill, laid back atmosphere. Notice a trend here with the live music and drinks? We would visit the historic AU Center and swing by Mr. Everything for a big plate of everything. Of course, I would take my friends to some of the Atlanta mainstays and historical sites like the Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, ZuCot Art Gallery, The King Center, The Apex Museum, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. And further out in the metro area, I would take my visiting friends to Jeju, a Korean bath house, for a very unique healing spa experience. The great thing about Atlanta and the metro area is there is something for just about everyone’s liking.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am the founder and CEO of The Swinney Foundation. Our mission is building strong families and even stronger communities by providing support to single parents and their children. When I started the foundation, it was a one-woman show. In 2020, during the pandemic, I took a big but purposeful step to hire staff and create an advisory board. First, I hired Michelle Vo as the administrative assistance realizing that the foundation could not grow with me carrying the load alone. With her assistance, I was able to fill my board with Craig Rolfe (finance), Eva Heintz (community outreach), Isha Vyas (marketing / social media), Jasmine Payne (public policy), Shermario Winfrey (legal), and training my son DJ Monagan for leadership as he serves in the at-large position. We have an exceedingly talented and dedicated board. But one of the details that people immediately notice is the diversity of the foundation. We all bring different skill sets and education, but most importantly varied lived experiences are brought to the table to help us better serve a growingly diverse community. During this time when other organizations were stepping back due to the pandemic, we were doing more. There was more need but also more opportunities for growth. We were purposeful in looking for ways to expand and reach more people. Because of the pandemic, we had to think outside the box which pushed us to reach beyond our geographic region. We had our best year! All business owners, big and small, saw the challenges of the pandemic but how did we each meet those challenges and find ways to thrive? Resiliency. So, shoutout to The Swinney Foundation team!

Website: www.theswinneyfoundation.org

Instagram: TheSwinneyFoundation

Linkedin: The Swinney Foundation

Twitter: The Swinney Org

Facebook: The Swinney Org

Other: Our annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Domestic Violence Awareness march registration: Saturday October 2, 2021, 11:00 am (in person and online, hybrid event) https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes-domestic-violence-awareness-march-tickets-145171187931 DONATIONS ACCEPTED ON OUR WEBSITE AND: GoFund Me: gf.me/u/y3m9tw PayPal: www.paypal.me/swinneyorg CashApp: $SwinneyFoundation