Today we’d like to introduce you to Meisha Thrasher.
Hi Meisha, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We exist to heal stigma related to medical mistrust with cultural competence. I don’t think it’s fair to ask why advocates resist bureaucratic violence or why the dismantling of systemic oppression is a real need. The debate is clearly at a critical place in Los Angeles because it’s a vital national debate. I am confident that families are struggling, that detention and policing is an age-old tactic that’s still working and that this is a privilege; to speak to my fellow Angelinos is my privilege. As we face a well-established workforce deficiency, mental health service providers are expected to grow in demand by 3.5% between 2021 and 2030 and thereby is a priority sector for workforce development in California. Our organization was founded upon these same priorities. More specifically, we trust that very few practitioners look like the people who deserve mental health resources the most, and our leading experts do not explain this historical disproportion. We prioritize the admission of practitioners from marginalized communities who demonstrate barriers to employment and have already expressed justice orientations in their lived experiences. We create pathways for advanced training because we trust that skilled practitioners are better prepared to compete in the workforce and better capable of empathic care delivery.
The school of social work shared statistical data after many years of silence. However, very little research demonstrates workforce development from the perspective of systemic barriers for marginalized care providers. As a body of educated justice champions, our conversation began in 2015 and focused on our historical motivations to invest in justice and reform. Lived experience is overstated and undervalued, but lived choices are clear, and historical facts demonstrate trajectory. We are steeped in mentor value because we have collectively navigated complicated systems. We attribute our reputation to actual behavior and mindset shifts; we change minds by changing hearts. People who care choose care roles. But when the systems they support don’t support them, burnout and toxic realities emerge, and care motivations decline. We disrupt this feedback loop with a care circle that maintains an empowered posture in care providers. Relationships are rooted in trust, respect, and earned secure attachment, bringing value to connections that peers do not experience as often as they deserve. For many therapists we mentor, our Train-the-Trainer priorities for dismantling medical mistrust inspire them so profoundly that they pass this concept on to their families. Care equity for therapists quickly translates into care equity for our community.
Michael Khayat, Sandra Braun, Dena Schwimmer, and David Royal Brown all said yes to a vision for justice, and for many years, I was called the person who made them say yes. We all participated because the conversations started in our hearts, and our alignments were, and still are, motivated by actual relationships. We listened when we couldn’t say no. Advocacy is this burning faith that silence is a collaboration with the bully. I couldn’t help myself, and this small, mighty army kept growing. We earned partnerships with Max & Pauline Zimmer Family Foundation, SISTAHFRIENDS Women’s Counseling and Eldercare Management, and Inglewood Unified School District based on existing relationship influence, and our proof of concept was launched. Grass roots are anchors, and we grew across these nine years from demonstrated evidence that relationships are valuable because they provide connection, support, and meaning, enriching our communities.
There isn’t any nonprofit organization that does not face monumental hardships in its origin stories, and we did what most organizers do: we put our families to work! Sandra put her son to work on our first video, I put my sons to work on our website, and any operational tasks they could help with, and David’s daughter is still part of the workgroup that keeps our growing boat afloat. We focus on the relationship with each student in our care who is working toward licensure in the state of California, who shared with us anchors in marginalized community activism before they arrived, and that never means only people of color because allies to systemic oppression are more often white than any other race. Allies who care are the most potent instruments in this war for justice.
Today, we collaborate with so many that it’s hard to count! The original clinical mentors who said yes to our invitation are all still here! Tiffany Naumann, Psy.D, who joined us in 2015; Yisraela Ketterman, LMFT, who joined us in 2016; and Maxine M. Hughes, LMFT, who joined us in 2019, are instrumental in our success. Several influential mentors have come and gone since 2019. Still, each has responded to our call from an existing commitment to mentorship. We are committed to deconstructing harmful narratives and nurturing restorative alliances that strengthen unity through meaningful, consistent engagement.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nobody told me I would be a politician, but in 2023, I met Kaci Patterson, chief architect of Black Equity Collective, who changed my mind about what advocacy is. I didn’t know that my own commitment to mentorship would see me into the care of formidable mentors like Amber Wynn, Wendy Thompson, and Janis Spires. When partners like the Max & Pauline Zimmer Family Foundation, the Black Equity Collective, the Nonprofit Finance Fund, the Foster Youth Initiative Fund of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, administered by Whittier Trust, the California Community Foundation, and The Amity Foundation investment in us, they make us capable of this impactful work. We are grateful to SISTAHFRIENDS Women’s Counseling, Eldercare Management, and Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches for being mentors and fiscal sponsors. We are stronger together and we are honored by the diversity in our collaborative relationships. We exist to heal stigma related to medical mistrust with cultural competence.
We have gained valuable insights from our experiences providing mental health services to youth and families that intersect with justice systems. From these experiences, we continue to cultivate efficient, equitable opportunities for intensive care interventions. For most, public-funded resources look like 6-10 weeks of care, and our minimum investment is twenty weeks of care.
One of the most valuable lessons learned is that collaboration is key. We can provide comprehensive, quality care when we build strong partnerships with other community organizations. Another lesson learned is how to be flexible in care delivery. Since COVID, we have used technology to connect to those needing care and support. Adapting with innovative methods to offer our services helps improve accessibility and allows us to meet people where they are. Another lesson is that we utilize a client-centered approach, and our programs prioritize the voice and agency of clients so that they are active participants in their treatment. This allows them to move at the speed of trust and improves engagement.
What’s more, peer support programs held in a safe space are essential to allow individuals with lived experience to help others navigate their mental health journeys and have proven to be highly effective. Another important lesson that we have learned is that culturally competent care is crucial. Our clinicians can create a safe, non-judgmental environment and provide trauma-informed care to meet the diverse needs of the community members we serve so that they feel respected, seen, and understood. With experience, we have learned to navigate legal and ethical challenges, including staying current on confidentiality laws, informed consent, and mandatory reporting requirements.
As mental health mentors, we have learned much about the struggles of nonprofit organizing. Primarily, we are deeply aware that resource management is critical to sustaining programs like ours, and we value the relationships with allies that ensure our organization’s longevity. Advocacy and awareness are crucial to support and healing, so we prioritize our engagement with our community members. We seek collaborations and partnerships with like-minded hearts and lean into opportunities that amplify collective brilliance. Innovation is key. We can adapt in response to challenges, as we did during the pandemic, so we shall face this current tsunami of grief.
As you know, we’re big fans of growURpotential. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At growURpotential, we are on a mission to expand access to culturally competent mental health care for historically marginalized communities across California through proactive behavior change rooted in mind and heart shifts. We center education, training, advocacy, and creative expression within mentor relationships. Our nonprofit system provides culturally competent mental health counseling and restorative clinical training for care providers. Our cultural flexibility is trusted across justice organizing and earned by our impact on youth, specifically those transitioning into adulthood, who are gender diverse, or who identify as LGBTQ+ and the families who care for them. We are committed to nurturing restorative-minded healing and emotional development for mental agility.
We have engaged in outreach and collaboration with community peers since 2016, initially and consistently leveraging capacity resources towards youth and the educators, families, and loved ones who champion their evolution. Our efforts have earned the endorsement of Inglewood Unified School District, the Inglewood Teachers Association, and several offices within the Department of Public Health, County of Los Angeles.
Since 2016, our efforts have nourished 1,262 students with school-based care, mentorship, and leadership resourcing within our Youth Resilience Program, and 77 therapists have received cultural nourishments in our Clinical Training Program. Since 2017, 267 teachers have been energized and empowered with self-care tools in our Resilient Teacher Program, and more than 750 teachers, care providers, and workforce participants all responded that they would share our program with peers and loved ones, including the Los Angeles Mission and the California Teachers Association.
Since 2019, we have served hundreds of youth, specifically those transitioning into adulthood, who are gender diverse or who identify as LGBTQ+, and the families who care for them. We are proud to have provided 932 therapy and support group hours during the COVID-19 pandemic to clients who lost their income. We have been incredibly honored to serve over 2,500 Angelinos who have self-directed to our organization for the support that is a catalyst for equity and emotional well-being since our inception, and we aspire to expand our reach to provide quality support and care for many more in our community of vulnerable, marginalized folx.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We call the care recipient and practitioner a pair of care partners. At growURpotential, we move in solidarity on purpose to elevate the sensation of collaboration that empowers all participants. When we recognize strengths, autonomy, and ability to contribute, we foster mutual respect and reciprocal responsibility because we trust the person receiving support has an active role in their care. We are not alone; we are wellness-oriented in justice-inspired ways, and we are grateful so many are focused on enhancing interdependence, promoting dignity, and amplifying the power of self-determination.
Clients can book an appointment with any of our therapists on our website’s appointment page. Another way someone can become a client is by searching platforms like Open Path Collective or sending a message to our [email protected] email address. Additionally, clients can be referred to our organization from a partner agency. We deliver individual and family care by telehealth and engage in group support using video technology. We enroll participants from several teaching paths, universities, and community organizations through applications delivered to [email protected]. Our network includes peer support professionals, community health workers, yoga instructors, holistic practitioners, and community activists who serve frontline and first responder roles across Los Angeles. Cultural competence is a skill; those who wish to embrace that skill set show up for themselves.
Local businesses play an important, active role in ensuring community sustainability, and we amplify our impact when we become partners. We are honored by outreach at [email protected] and regularly participate in community-building activities. Investing in our community looks many ways. Sponsor relationships provide nonprofits with vital, consistent funding and open doors to new opportunities through networking and advocacy. We seek strong connections, invest in trust, and value long-term alliances that increase community engagement. Our sponsorship relationships provide valuable feedback, and we evolve on purpose with our sponsors to better serve community needs each year. We also partner with the community to generate donations allowing one family to support another, cultivating compassion and community values directly. Any interested party may reach us at [email protected] or visit our website’s DONATE page.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.growurpotential.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growurpotentialonpurpose/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growurpotential
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growurpotential/?viewAsMember=true
- Twitter: https://x.com/GROWURPOTENTIAL
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@growurpotential5278/videos
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bz1EOZ5rHA
