Growing up in the housing projects of Memphis, Tennessee, Crystal Clark-Chatman felt ill-equipped to deal with life’s difficult situations. She wished for a mentor outside of her mother and sisters to teach her about the importance of education and self-worth. Well, lets’ say they did an exceptional job instilling principles in Crystal’s life.

As an adult, she channeled that desire by being obedient to the word of God. Crystal put those words into action by founding Beautiful Spirited Women (BSW), a non-profit of dedicated women empowering and advocating for girls.

BSW provides girls and young women with a safe-haven platform to share their personal experiences with sex, drug abuse, domestic violence, low self-esteem, bullying, depression, and equips them with important life skills to advance in schools and workplaces.

BSW offers a mentorship program for girls all year round, ranging from 4-20 years old, in twelve cities across the country. While not all the girls involved are at-risk, BSW does focus on working with at-risk girls in low-income areas.

For some of the girls involved, BSW additionally fills the void of a missing parent by partnering them with a mentor who has had similar experiences.

“I believe that every girl should have an outlet like BSW because you learn so much,” Crystal said. “You learn different things. You’re around diversity. You are around people who are positive, encouraging and motivating. People who are just praying for greatness on your behalf.”

Thank you so much to my amazing husband Troy, my 4 beautiful children, beautiful family, team, parents, and mentees for these amazing 14 years. Cheers and blessings to 14+ more!!!!