Meet Yohance and Di Yonna Mitchell | Founders of an Educational Nonprofit Organization

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yohance and Di Yonna Mitchell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yohance and Di Yonna, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
While working in education and mentoring, we realized the great number of students in dire need of academic assistance whose parents and caregivers are unable to afford the ongoing one-on-one and small group support they need. We founded Vision Tutoring Educational Foundation then secured 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, so we could apply for grants, request donations, lock-in contracts, and seek additional funding that would allow us to provide the much-needed service at little to no cost for eligible families in need.

What should our readers know about your business?
Vision Tutoring Educational Foundation (VTEF) was founded to ensure more underserved Pre-K through 12th grade students receive an equitable opportunity to achieve academic success through the provision of free and reduced-price tutoring and enrichment services. Although we also offer private-pay service, over 99% of our students are tutored at no cost to their families.

When we look back on our vision starting in a single room of our home to where the organization is today, we are extremely proud to have hired nearly 200 highly qualified educators to work with our youth, awarded 142 tutoring scholarships, served nearly 5,000 metro Atlanta students free of charge, and raised over $1.9 million toward our cause.

Our journey is a daily faith walk. We have learned that all things will work out for our good. There are many challenges, but prayer and a phenomenal team keep us grounded, allow us to overcome every hurdle, and inspire us to continue to activate our vision.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If our best friends were in the area, and we all had a week off from work, we’d plan a bit of relaxation and fun. Aside from barbecuing, an at-home movie, backyard water activities, and family games, we would get out for some days (and nights) on the town. For breakfast, we’d check out Milk and Honey (Cascade Road), Atlanta Breakfast Club (downtown), and Corner Bakery (downtown). For casual nights, we’d hit Red Lobster and TGI Fridays, but an evening at Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill (Cumberland) would be a priority. A couple of games of bowling and the arcade at Main Event (Cobb Pkwy) would be ideal then we’d catch a movie next door at AMC. We’d do some research to find the best location to shoot a bit of pool and join into a little karaoke. We are also extremely family-oriented, so we’d all take our kids with us to Zoo Atlanta, Stone Mountain, Six Flags, and Mellow Mushroom (Hiram). Finally, to wind down, we’d get pampered at Buckhead Massage.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are dozens of individuals who have played a role in our journey. Although we cannot name them all, there are several who deserve credit in our story. Most importantly, we must honor God, who gave us the vision and continues to guide us and make a way out of no way. We would like to thank our parents for all they have poured into us – the examples they set, our upbringing, educational opportunities they provided, love, encouragement, and their continued support of us and the non-traditional career path we have chosen. We truly appreciate the exceptional leaders who supported us in our mission, many of whom may not know the great difference they made in our lives – the Bronner Business Institute (BBI), Jim Milliman, Patty Castro, Katrina Thompson, Yonnie Pope, Pam Baisden, Betty Jones, and Kelly Day. We are blessed to work with phenomenal partners – the Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC) and United Way of Greater Atlanta. We are forever grateful to the funders who believe in our vision enough to provide financial support – a million thanks to our family, friends, and individual donors as well as the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, United Way, Fulton County Department of Community Development, and the Gwinnett County Community Development Program. We could not do what we do without our team… our tutors commit to making a positive difference in the lives of our students, our board shares a passion for youth success and continuously strives toward our mission, and our professional, thorough, and efficient staff (Ameerah, Monifa, and Michelle) are truly family to us. Thank you all!

Website: https://visiontutoring.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visiontutoring

Twitter: https://twitter.com/visiontutoring

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VisionTutoringEducationalFoundation

Other: 770.629.2329 (phone and text)