Step Up Savannah is a nonprofit organization founded in response to stagnantly high multi-generational poverty in Georgia and the surrounding region. Central to the agency’s work and outreach to the low-wealth community is its economic inclusion programming which includes workforce development, entrepreneurship incubation, public benefits cliff programming, financial literacy, and more. This month, Prosperity Now talked to Alicia Johnson, the Executive Director of Step Up Savannah, member of the Affordable Housing Network Steering Committee and Prosperity Now Community Champion to learn more about the agency’s work and community impact.

Alicia, who has worked in both the public and private sector with over 27 years of experience building and developing community programming serving low-wealth communities and catalyzing collaboration, currently serves as an economic inclusion leader for the Southeast Region of Georgia.  

Alicia believes that closing the racial wealth gap is critical to ensuring our communities have socioeconomic resilience and adaptable community response. While her professional passions include enhancing overall economic stability and harnessing the full economic power of our economy, she confirms the real work is creating on-ramps for people in low-wealth communities to gain the access, influence, and opportunity they need to move from financial insecurity to economic mobility and asset-building. 

Step Up’s success is a result of the organization’s narrative change efforts and its strategic approach to building resource relationships has fostered collaborations with diverse stakeholders, including non-profit organizations, government agencies, businesses, and community leaders. Together this powerful team supports the organization with a wealth of expertise, knowledge, and resources that are essential for tackling the complex issue of multi-generational poverty. Additionally, the organization takes a data-driven approach to capacity building. Doing so allows this organization, and others, to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement accurately. 

Alicia reminds us of the importance of catalyzing collaboration. It drives resource maximization and prevents the duplication of services. Connect with Alicia Johnson to follow her journey next year while she leads the expansion of her organization’s workforce development model, the launch of a minority-owned business service co-op model, and the implementation of an Equity Index!