About the Author
Patti cultivates homegrown changemakers prepared to step into their power and work with others to create the world they want to live in. Get in touch to find out how you can grow the social changemaker in yourself and those you serve with Blue Roads Changemaker YOU.
There’s nothing I enjoy more than when I meet someone and start sharing what I do and they suddenly say something like “Oh! You must meet ‘so and so’!” These connections and introductions often turn into the very best conversations I get in any given week. Thus was the case when a new mutual colleague decided to connect me with Mia Pumo. Mia’s passion for education is something we share at a deep level. Like me, after many years working in public schools, Mia decided to try her hand at something a little different without moving outside the education arena. Her energy and joy in the work are contagious at a time when education is under fire and teachers are leaving the profession in droves because of perceived pressures and lack of support. Thankfully, there are people like Mia Pumo working to bring genuine enjoyment back into schools and classrooms by helping educators flourish in their work so their students can flourish, too.
Mia shared her “Homegrown Solutions for a Patchwork World” on my show “On Your Own Terms” which airs weekly on Win Win Women. You can catch up with that conversation below in video, podcast or written form (or all three!) to suit your own learning preferences. Whichever format you choose, you will be inspired and moved by her commitment to teachers – our country's most valuable resource.
Homegrown Mia
Mia grew up in Thomasville, North Carolina.
You've probably heard of Thomasville furniture. We have this giant chair that sits in the middle of town!
She describes her upbringing there as quite wonderful, but perhaps a bit “sheltered”.
Everybody kind of looked like me. Everybody sounded like me. Everybody believed like me.
Mia's Patchwork
Mia acknowledges that her childhood didn't give her exposure to a lot of diverse perspectives.
That kind of changed when I went to college. Going to a big university was very eye opening for someone like me.
She describes this time in her life as a turning point in her development.
I think that started my journey of personal growth (toward a) love of people… and extreme curiosity about the world around me.
After a short stint in television advertising, Mia returned to the university to pursue a master's degree in teaching. This is when she really began to thrive professionally.
I got my first job in one of the most high needs poverty impacted schools in North Carolina.
She loved the work and it served to deepen and broaden her appreciation for diversity and the beauty and power of what can be learned by working across, what we at Blue Roads call, “the patchwork”.
This experience really set the stage for my ability to impact others in the future. I learned so much from those students.
She taught first grade at that school for five years.
I can still remember their names, the stories that they told me, the conversations that we had about race and diversity and our relationship… the fact that we were not exactly alike, but that we loved each other.
Solution-Focused Mia
Those conversations and her first principal helped to lay a foundation of advocacy for both students and teachers.
I had an African American very strong female principal leader, Dr. Deborah Jones that I worked for that changed my life.
I try to always be aware of what different perspectives we are bringing to the table.”
She recalls one particular incident early on when a parent came into the office with a complaint. Mia remembers being “scared to death” as she went into the principal's office.
Am I in trouble? What am I doing wrong?
The parent was upset that her daughter wasn't called upon every time she raised her hand in class. Dr. Jones listened to the story and then explained to the parent that it wasn't possible for her daughter, who was very bright, to be called upon every time she had a response within a classroom with so many other children.
Dr. Jones said, “Ms. Pumo has lots of students in her classroom and she has to give everyone a chance to answer those questions.”
The support Mia felt that day from her administrator was something she has never forgotten. When teachers are working hard to do the right thing every day, they need leaders who “have their backs” and who help them learn and grow and be successful. With this kind of leadership, she found a situation in which she could thrive.
The support and advocacy she felt from her principal that day has never left her. Her experience with positive leaders, like her first principal, who support teachers to be the best they can be has carried over into Mia's current work as a coach, facilitator and trainer of coaches committed to helping teachers flourish.
I truly believe that happy teachers equal happy classrooms, and that's better for kids all the way around.
I have been able to impact so many teachers and offer something that I feel like really makes a difference in the teaching environment…
Changemaker Mia
We are working to create opportunities and events that students can really get involved in …to develop themselves and learn more about themselves so they discover their strengths and build on those…
“The science behind human flourishing in work environments doesn't just apply to schools and school divisions!”
In fact, much of the research for this book was conducted with the United States Army.
Mia invites interested educators and people from all fields to get in touch to learn more about the ways she can support your organization and industry to help the humans with whom you engage to flourish in all aspects of their lives. When we create a culture that allows humans to flourish and grow, everybody learns and everybody wins! You can reach Mia at miapumo7@gmail.com to learn more.
Of course, it makes sense to tag Mia Pumo's work most solidly to an association with Global Goal #4 Quality Education, but I never want to miss an opportunity to remind us all that a focus on quality education undergirds every one of the other goals. When teachers flourish as changemakers, their students will develop as changemakers, too. When the system that educates humanity around the world is rooted in positive change (positive psychology and human flourishing) everywhere, we will see the progress necessary in all the other systems that will make humanity able to thrive along with the planet we all share.
Get in touch to let us know what YOU and people you know are doing to realize these Global Goals by the year 2030. We can sure do it if we all work together and take our place as Changemakers! A good first step is reviewing the eBook Changemaker YOU that you can download here for a summary of the skills all changemakers have in common. They can be taught and they can be learned!
CHECK OUT our CHANGEMAKER YOU course to help you get started today!
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Patti cultivates homegrown changemakers prepared to step into their power and work with others to create the world they want to live in. Get in touch to find out how you can grow the social changemaker in yourself and those you serve with Blue Roads Changemaker YOU.
