My name is Nakida R. McDaniel and I use she/her/hers pronouns.  I am a Black, proud and loud cisgender woman and the mother of three children Nasir (21), Nigel, (16), and Niah (14).   I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC. and graduated from Winston-Salem State University in 2003.

 

I am a community organizer, youth mentor, and advocate. I am passionate about eradicating poverty, gun violence prevention/intervention, and elevating the voices of Black women and girls through entrepreneurship and building social capital in Winston-Salem.  

 

I am one of the founders of the Opportunity 2 Love + Heal Coalition, an advisory board member of Partnership for Prosperity, and  a member of the United Way of Forsyth County’s Place Matters Impact Council.

 

I am the Associate Director of Community Engagement at Everytown for Gun Safety.  In this role, I am responsible for growing the reach and impact of local partnerships across the county and equipping volunteer leaders to build an inclusive and equitable movement to end gun violence through trainings, coaching, and coalition building to support the work of Black-led organizations.

 

Prior to joining Everytown, I worked for 6 ½ years at Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods as the Lead Community Organizer,  Community Development Coach and Trainer.  In this role I worked with residents to connect their gifts, skills, and talents to accomplish their collective visions for their neighborhoods.  This work also allowed me to train local institutions on Asset Based Community Development so they could learn to step down as residents learned to step up and lead the charge of changing their own communities.  I believe that residents have the solutions to the issues in their communities and institutions should take their lead by supporting them in areas where resident’s identify they need assistance.   

 

I am the owner of GLAM Beauty & Beyond, where I use my gift of healing to create products for the body, mind, and soul.  In my spare time I also enjoy playing the guitar, although I am not a professionally trained guitar player.