Episode Details

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Motherful is a BIPOC-led, multiracial grassroots collective by single mothers and for single mothers whose mission is to nurture, support, and empower single mother families through education, resources, community, arts, and wellness. We have over 400 member families. Some of our programs include direct giving of cash assistance to single moms over $100k in the past 4 years, a food pantry and community garden feeding 50 families weekly,  powerful performing arts, activism, leadership development of matriarchs and community conversations as well as community dinners and more. Our big vision is to build an eco-village co-housing development where single mother families can live close to each other and support each other. We are a Reproductive Justice organization standing for Racial Justice, Gender Justice, Climate Justice, Economic Justice and the intersection of all of these things in Maternal Justice. 

Heidi Howes (she/her) is a single mother of two children for nearly a decade, Heidi is a Healing Artist, Musician, Writer, and Community Organizer whose passion is to create support and healing for mothers, communities, and the world.

Lisa Woodward (she/her) was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and studied Modern Dance. She is a single mother of three ladies and is a true Jack-Of-All-Trades. After relocating to New York in 1999, she studied fashion design, and started work as a Personal Assistant in the music industry. Lisa is a vegetarian and loves a garage sale. 

Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

Discussed this episode:

• Heidi’s and Lisa’s relationship with the word feminist

• How capitalism and patriarchy affect working moms

• A matriarchal vision for how business could better support parents

• Why the “supermom” narrative is so harmful

• The benefits of prioritizing and centering mothering in the workplace (and why it’s bigger than the budget)

• How the mothers served by Motherful feel after receiving support from the organization

• Why collective parenting is so important and at the core of matriarchy

• How feminism has overlooked and failed to support motherhood

• The challenges of building a collective, mutual aid organization for single mothers

• The heavy lift of culture making inside an organization

• How a lack of resources prompted these single moms to start Motherful

• What gave these founders the audacity to build something big, and hold a big vision for the organization

• The non-traditional, non-hierarchical collective structure they are using for their nonprofit

• What Heidi and Lisa have learned about funding bias in the nonprofit space

• How local media and other visibility efforts are working for Motherful

• The unexpected challenges of running a nonprofit

• How Motherful encourages engagement and ownership from its members

• Flipping traditional board structure on its head with a Matriarch’s Council

• The four pillars of the matriarchal model for business and society (and it’s not just the opposite of patriarchy)

• How these single mothers