Collaborate Cleveland launches Flourish Award recognizing women changemakers across Northeast Ohio

Cleveland has many unsung heroes – women working hard in the background while going unnoticed and unacknowledged. One local nonprofit has created a new award meant to shine a spotlight on some of these women committed to improving the livelihood and health outcomes of their communities. 

The announcement of Collaborate Cleveland’s inaugural cohort of Flourish Award recipients has impacted lives already. The local social justice advocacy nonprofit created the Flourish Award to recognize extraordinary local changemakers for their contributions to women, girls and gender justice in Cleveland.

Each recipient receives a $5,000 unrestricted award, as well as several other perks, in honor of their impactful work.

“The award is meant to recognize the energy, time, effort and care the awardees bring to their work and to appreciate that this work, while heart work, comes at a cost,” said Collaborate Cleveland Executive Director Abby Westbrook. “Our hope is that the award sustains their personal flourishing and retains them in their work.”

Selecting the Recipients

Nominations for the award came from Collaborate Cleveland’s Inaugural Advisory Committee. Each recipient was vetted and selected based on demonstrated work in support of women and gender justice in Cleveland. Collaborate Cleveland’s understanding of gender justice is rooted in recognizing society’s systems, policies, and practices are structured to benefit some and deeply disadvantage others. The nonprofit’s work is inclusive of all women (cis and trans) and people who identify as nonbinary and gender expansive.

“While developing the Flourish Award, we asked community members if they saw a need for something like this,” said Emily Troia, Collaborate Cleveland’s director of strategic engagement. “Again and again, we heard, ‘Yes, and I know someone who deserves it!’ It really hit home how many unsung heroes commit themselves to the community.”

The 2025 Flourish Award Recipients are:

• Josette D. Compton, Ed.D., MA, HHW Ohio
• Cheryl Holloway, Starting Point
• Tammie Sheila Jones, MS, Birthing Beautiful Communities
• Tiarrah Kent, ForeverMom Legacy
• Shereen Naser, Ph.D., Cleveland State University
• Ebonie Randle, Shalom And Tranquility Garden Network
• Brittney Alexandria Smith, Positively Empowering and Restoring Ladies Self-Esteem (PEARLS), Inc.
• Monika Veliz, Margie’s Hope
• Jessica Williams, Office of Richard Starr, Ward 5, Cleveland City Council
• Samantha Williams-Pierce, MSSA, CPT, Renegade Soul LLC
• Dameyonna Willis, Queen IAM

“I think there needs to be greater awareness of these individuals and greater support for them doing work that can take a toll,” Troia said. “I hope this award reminds people we all know local changemakers who we can support, amplify and celebrate — each in our own way.”

A word from the awardees…

Being the inaugural cohort of awardees, the recipients had their own individual moments of shock and gratitude from receiving the acknowledgement. Each recipient shared their story and how they define, “Flourishing.” 

Tiarrah Kent

Tiarrah Kent, founder and vice president of ForeverMom Legacy, lost her mother at age 12. Her mother had no life insurance or savings to leave behind, which inspired Kent’s desire to support mothers and women in similar situations. After working in education for over a decade, she opened her own child care center called A Better Day Academy. That’s when she started to see the gaps in support for children and families.

“The financial literacy wasn’t there. And so I was like…what if [ForeverMom Legacy] can be a bridge for our parents here in this space?” she said.

Kent went through the steps to establish the nonprofit, and then sat on the paperwork. It was when she began to receive requests for panel speaking that she decided to officially launch ForeverMom Legacy.

She has started partnerships with several local community organizations including workshops for young women at CMSD’s Garrett Morgan High School and monthly health and wellness workshops she offers through YWCA Greater Cleveland. She has also provided workshops on homeownership and support for moms.

Kent said she immediately did her due diligence and began researching the Flourish Award and Collaborate Cleveland when she learned of her nomination. She said the award was, “Right on time,” especially since she recently spoke with her business partner about expanding ForeverMom Legacy. Kent said receiving the award filled her with gratitude. 

“In the work that I’m doing, I define flourishing as the state of thriving emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually when a woman or girl not only heals, but begins to live fully, love deeply, lead boldly and build legacy with intention,” she said. “Turning pain into purpose and purpose into power.”

Ebonie Randle

Shalom And Tranquility Garden Network Founder and Director Ebonie Randle said the Flourish Award nomination left her flabbergasted.

“You never know who’s watching you and paying attention,” she said in response to receiving the nomination from a fellow community advocate.

Randle identifies herself as a Cleveland native, a creator, a visionary and a community builder. She has been a longtime advocate for people with special needs, partially because she has two children with autism.

When approached by a classmate to get involved with community gardening, she started looking for a vacant lot. She would soon discover a lot being used as a dump site. With the City of Cleveland’s Summer Sprout program, Randle and her team were able to start their garden — using it as a bridge for families with special needs children and the broader community.

Kicking off at the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Shalom And Tranquility Garden Network offered structured activities and learning opportunities.

“I lovingly refer to Shalom and Tranquility as a rec center without walls. We have something for everyone,” Randle said. “I am working toward actively engaging the Brooklyn Center community. We’re so tucked in here that a lot of community members don’t know that we’re here.”

Randle was very excited to receive the award. She said she had no idea she would find so much joy in doing the work she does at Shalom and Tranquility.

“I found Ebony in this,” she said. “I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know that I was a dreamer. I didn’t know that I was a creator. I did not know that I was an artist. I didn’t know because I lost all of that in life. I have challenges doing this work from community members who are okay with blight and they are okay with crime. I have to deal with those challenges, but it’s the joy that I receive. It might seem very selfish, but I still get up every day and put on these here overalls that I’ve been wearing for the last four years, and I’m ready to make a difference.”

Jessica Williams

Jessica Williams‘ journey began as a high school teen mother who found support through Baldwin Wallace’s Sprout program. After graduating, she discovered her passion for community engagement before becoming executive assistant to Cleveland Ward 5 Councilman Richard Starr.

In her role, Williams excels at event planning, organizing festivals, health expos and community fairs.

“As [Councilman Starr’s] assistant, I am putting together our festivals, our back-to-school festival, our Father’s Day health clinic, our health expos, our housing resource fairs, and I oftentimes see myself going back to the same people for like five events,” Williams said. “I’m figuring out a way to put together an umbrella package, kind of all of my services, because the event planning is something that my job grew…and yes, I absolutely love to do it.”

During the pandemic, Williams explored health and wellness through smoothie-making and juicing. What started as personal experimentation turned into her business called Jess Juiced. Her juices quickly became a hit with her coworkers.

“And that was all it took to get people asking about it, wanting it,” Williams said. “And the business just came about itself. It grew from within. It grew from a blender and a cheesecloth.”

Receiving the Flourish Award hit Williams hard. She defines flourishing as coming from those dark spaces that help us evolve into the beautiful beings we are now.

“The award itself speaks volumes,” she said. “But then to know what’s included is just…the tears were water working. Because oftentimes you’re trying to make things happen out of a wish and a hope and a dream.”

Williams explained, “To have [Collaborate Cleveland] listen to us and ask us how Collaborate Cleveland could help us in the future, what do we want to see, what’s missing? To know that there’s an organization that cares for the greater good of the person so that they can continue to do the greater good for the people…it’s not that it’s unheard of, it’s just hard to find, hard to get, and hard to feel heard in that own way.”

Samantha Williams-Pierce

Samantha Williams-Pierce gave birth to her twins, Christyan and Jayden, prematurely at 21 weeks. The twins did not survive due to their undeveloped lungs, and the loss of her children sent Williams-Pierce into an extended period of grief.

The second time she was pregnant with twins, she carried Camryn and Caedyn successfully to 37 weeks, and had healthy births. The emotional journey through her motherhood experiences, particularly the loss of Christyan and Jayden, motivated Williams-Pierce to focus on the need to help women — especially Black women — understand how to properly care for their hearts, souls and bodies. She wanted to help women maintain healthy stress levels, encouraging more positive pregnancy outcomes for themselves and their children.

Even after having Camryn and Caedyn, Williams-Pierce continued to struggle. She thrust herself into community organizing when she joined First Year Cleveland’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss Committee (PAIL), became a yoga instructor, helped organize a Wave of Light candle ceremony for parents and families who lost infants, and committed to becoming a professional body builder. Her entrepreneurship journey took off when she started to develop her own personal training company, Renegade Soul.

“Even though I wasn’t speaking to God, God was speaking to me,” she said. “Even the logo, everything about Renegade. When I look at it right now, I’d be like, how did I even come up with that? You didn’t. That was nothing but the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was like, ‘This what you gone do.’”

When Williams-Pierce learned she was a Flourish Award recipient, she told her best friend, “It’s a lot to take in.”

“I don’t know how to be happy about that because I was actually thinking about quitting Renegade because I was like, this isn’t working. It’s not functioning the way I want it to. I got mostly white women and no Black women, and I’m not affecting who I wanted to affect,” she said.

In the midst of the challenge to pay bills and develop a diverse audience that can afford her services, Williams-Pierce said the Flourish Award was God’s way of saying, “Congratulations, you’re doing great!”

Working on Renegade Soul for the past eight years, she said receiving the Flourish Award may be a turning point for her and her business.

Tammie Jones

Tammie Jones had many life lessons instilled in her from the women in her family, especially her mother and grandmother. Jones went to Mount Union before transferring to the University of Toledo, where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree. She later got her Master’s from Indiana Wesleyan. In between receiving the two degrees, she learned of her pregnancy with her son.

Jones’ worked for Cleveland’s Department of Aging before transitioning to the city’s Department of Public Health, working on the MomsFirst program. A snafu with the position landed her working with HIV patients, a population she knew nothing about, but was willing to learn — even with hesitations.

“Not knowing what I was getting into, I was there for 18 years,” Jones said. “I became passionate. I didn’t start off with passion. I started off, ‘This is a job.’ I started off with three boxes of two years of reporting that I had to go through and figure out how to do this reporting and get that information to the state. It was a labor.”

Jones eventually became empathetic to the plight of people diagnosed with HIV. She said her Christian upbringing came into play because she was working closely with the LGBTQ community — a community she had heard of, but had never interacted with. What developed for her were real relationships, and real family.

That work sparked a desire for Jones to do more for individuals with complex health issues, and to raise awareness on the importance of mental health and emotional well-being. She found that her own commitment to improving her community’s health outcomes aligned well with the mission and vision of Birthing Beautiful Communities, a nonprofit focused on enhancing maternal and infant health. Jones is now the senior director of programs in behavioral health for the organization.

Nominated by Birthing Beautiful Communities CEO Jazmin Long, receiving the Flourish Award left Jones saying, “Wow!”

“Do you know how much I needed that right now,” Jones said. “Do you know what needed to be paid or what I needed to do? Thank you, Lord!”

Embodying her strength and courage is what flourishing means to Jones.

“It takes courage to look at my son and say, we gonna be okay. Even though I don’t know if we’re gonna be okay, but we gonna be okay. And to pull from that strength, from my mother, my grandmother, my aunt…this is the strength of my ancestors, that I pull for myself, that I pull for my son, that I pull for my coworkers, that I pull for the women that I encounter because they’re looking at me. I can be vulnerable and say, I didn’t know the way to go. And I can be honest in that and not hide any longer.”

Josette Compton

If she took a slightly different path, Josette Compton may be an engineer today. Compton has had a love of science and writing since she was a child, but math was not her favorite subject, so she chose to focus on the arts. Her other desire – to lift up women in her community – aligns well with her current position as the program director for HHW Ohio (Hard Hatted Women), where she focuses on empowering women — particularly Black women — by preparing them for careers in trades and infrastructure.

During her time as an art school teacher, Compton noticed the female students interested in video games and graphic design were not getting the mentorship they needed to pursue their own passions.

“They didn’t get the studio time that they needed. And a lot of behavior problems took away from the time they needed to be mentored,” Compton said. “My [graduate school] dissertation was on African American girls and college preparedness and digital arts careers. I came up with an educational entrepreneurial idea which is called the Social Design Lab.”

The Social Design Lab was structured for late adolescents to first-year college girls and included mentoring, CGI and video game design, and enhancing engineering and cosmetic chemistry skills. A collaboration with a local university that combined the Social Design Lab with Techbridge Girls and Rosie’s Girls programs fell through due to the recent loss of federal funding opportunities.

Compton is now focusing on her holistic body care company, Smart Cookie Bodycare. Her products, self-made in her full at-home artisan lab, are designed for adults with body acne, diabetes, and natural skin.

Compton is working on formulating 500 hydration sticks in preparation for the launch of a 30-second commercial spot she won during a giveaway at a Gray Digital Media event. Receiving the Flourish Award nomination was even more of a shock for her.

“When I read the award, it was actually humbling, and it did something to my self esteem because doing community work takes a lot from you…there’s a lot of emotional labor which is invisible, and people don’t see that,” Compton said. “When I got that award, it…put things into focus a little bit more. Your impact is not supposed to be publicly seen. Your impact is supposed to be one-on-one.”

She said the Flourish Award came right on time.

“There is a feeling deep inside that everything that I want or everything that I am willing into my life will manifest. The Flourish Award took me from 10-percent of confidence to like 90-percent,” Compton said. “Once I read everything on collabCLE’s website and I saw what this award meant, it allowed me to start identifying in my interactions with women what I was doing right.”

Those interested in learning more or getting more details about the inaugural award recipients can visit the Collaborate Cleveland website.

Collaborate Cleveland is a client of the author’s communications agency, Boone Logic Consulting.