Circles USA is proud to announce our emerging partnership with The Prosperity Agenda, a nonprofit dedicated to equipping human services agencies with participant-centered practices. The agency’s new Family-Centered Prosperity Project (aka The Prosperity Project) promises to advance families through innovative prosperity coaching and peer support models.
This transformative project, funded by a generous $550,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will span two years and be piloted in Jackson, MS, building resilient and community-driven financial well-being strategies. Circles USA will serve as the subject matter expert in developing the initiative’s Prosperity Networks: peer support groups where families can share experiences, gain insights, and build financial resilience.
Executive Director Kamatara Johnson emphasizes the importance of peer support in building social capital. “The relationships in Circles cultivate qualities like autonomy and belonging, a sense of inherent worth and hope in our participants.” Circles USA brings 25+ years of expertise in leveraging peer support as a powerful tool for breaking the cycle of poverty: “When families come together in community to share experiences and strategies, they build confidence, resilience, connections, and a sense of belonging that is crucial for economic mobility and long-term success.”
This new alliance formalizes a long-standing relationship between Circles USA and The Prosperity Agenda, two organizations with a shared aim of building community to end poverty. Diana Dollar (founder and former ED of The Prosperity Agenda) spoke at CUSA's 2019 Leadership Conference in Greenville, SC, where the agency offered a session on their money mindset cards and other toolkits to support healthy economic mobility. And powerhouse trainer Franceria Moore presented at our 2021 virtual Leadership Conference, sharing tips on the coaching mindset that upleveled a portion of our own quarterly Virtual Immersive Training for new Circles staff and champions.
Circles USA’s Chief Learning Officer Kris Alexander and pilot coach Sarah Thornburg will join a Family-Centered Coaching training cohort in March, where they’ll learn best practices for incorporating coaching mindsets and tools in our curriculum upgrade this year...and even work towards more robust onboarding and training for Circles Coaches. Sarah will be considering how new Circles Chapters can dovetail with Family Centered Coaching organizations.
At a time when social service agencies are facing financial uncertainty, The Prosperity Agenda is introducing a model that strengthens families and communities without relying on government funding. “Our approach leverages Family-Centered Coaching (FCC) and Social Capital through Prosperity Networks, making coaching and peer support accessible, sustainable, and resilient to economic downturns,” says Jomaris DeJesus, current ED of The Prosperity Agenda. “By shifting the focus to the strengths of families and their communities, we ensure that meaningful support is available, regardless of external funding challenges.”
The Family-Centered Prosperity Project aims to expand on the framework of Family-Centered Coaching, equipping practitioners with tools to have financial conversations with program participants that center their values—a component often missing in traditional financial education frameworks in human services, which tend to focus on technical financial skills rather than human-centered ones. The framework will also include Prosperity Pathways, a holistic toolkit that recognizes the complex realities families navigate and helps case managers support career conversations in a way that honors individual values and goals. Finally, the Project’s fledgling Prosperity Networks will be measured with a Social Capital Index—specially designed with common prosperity barriers in mind—to measure and strengthen the relational networks that contribute to financial well-being.
The Family-Centered Prosperity Project represents a groundbreaking shift in financial empowerment strategies, focusing on people-driven solutions that can endure financial downturns. The Prosperity Agenda and Circles USA are committed to driving systemic change that prioritizes community-based solutions, ensuring that families have the resources, knowledge, and support needed to thrive.
“At the heart of this initiative is the recognition that financial well-being is deeply personal and rooted in the values of each family,” said DeJesus. “By centering those values in financial coaching and support, we create systems that uplift families in meaningful, lasting ways.”