Meet Christy McClendon on New Pathways for Youth in Garfield
Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy McClendon.
Christy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Having grown up in a rural, farming community, I learned early on about hard work and service to my community. If a neighbor’s crop didn’t yield, I learned the value of holding them to next year…because next year, it may be us who needed help. I have carried that sense of community throughout my career.
My passion for empowering youth from low-income families and communities goes above and beyond my nonprofit sector executive role. Having been raised by my grandparents who had eighth-grade educations, I know firsthand the powerful intervention of a caring, stable adult who helps create possibility out of hopelessness.
Because of the power of mentoring in my own life, I was able to use my sense of community service to become a first-generation college graduate as a Master’s Level Social Worker in Social Entrepreneurialism.