From your NEW executive director

Ellen Collins
Ellen Collins
Ellen Collins, Associate Director
MS Alliance

Hello Alliance members and friends,

First, please allow me to take this opportunity to say how excited I am to begin this new journey serving as executive director of the Alliance.  It is truly an honor to work with each of you as we endeavor to create better communities for our children and families in Mississippi.  We have work to do, and with our nonprofit and philanthropic organizations united in our vision, we will achieve our goals.

May is National Women’s Health Month, a time women and girls are reminded and encouraged to make their own health a priority.  Often the caregiver of the family, women tend to put the well-being of others before their own, inadvertently neglecting their own health, both physically and emotionally.

According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, approximately 70 percent of nonprofit employees are women.  Per Cause IQ, the nonprofit sector in Mississippi employs over 84,000 people therefore suggesting the sector in our state alone has over 58,000 women working and serving every day. 

If you are a woman reading The Ally, and not making your overall health a priority, I encourage each of you to let this month’s theme serve as your personal reminder to focus on the steps you need to take to improve.  Let’s commit to making changes and see them through.

May we all take a collective pledge to practice better self-care, which includes rest.  Will you make that pledge with me today?

To better health for us all,
Ellen

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