Our Story & oUR cALLING

Adversity is the human condition. It is not something that can be avoided. Adversity at differing levels is experienced by every individual at some point. Evidenced by historical social outcomes, there are never adequate and plentiful protections for those that find themselves in those moments. We believe that every person has at least one adverse moment that changes the course of their lives and that calls on them to make a stand for both self and others. It was from moments like these that our founders birthed the idea of the National Coalition for Social Advancement.

In 2019 at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, our founders Martryce (Tryce) Taylor and Ranya Salvant found themselves in yet another adverse circumstance where meritocracy of the American system had failed to prove the value of its outcomes. The women first meet as friends with mutual interest and values in 2017. By 2019, that friendship grew into a love for each other and working with and in community spaces.

Educated and skilled, though unable to find employment, the pandemic compounded resource needs for our founders as well as every other person who found themselves caught in the global crisis. After searching and failing to secure support prior to the approval of federal aid, Tryce and Ranya noticed resource gaps not only for their family, but other families, displaced professionals, and businesses struggling to survive the pandemic.

After many long discussions, Martryce and Ranya formed the idea that by transforming their skills from Education;, Community Learning, & Community Programming; Business, Finance, Analysis, & Grant Writing; Legal Philosophy, Policy, and Systems of Governance; Journalism, Engagement, & Storytelling; and Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Advocacy, & Wellness, into non-profit community-focused facilitation & advising; consultation, analysis, &  project incubation; human development &  skill acquisition; and support for critical community needs for holistic wellness & engagement, the National Coalition For Social Advancement could amplify the voices of marginalized and underserved populations by supporting critical community infrastructure, resources, and providing a platform for community-driven conversation.

We identified that community infrastructure, resource support, and effected-stakeholder recommendations necessary for resilience measures are lacking. These measures potentially protect communities from economic and societal catastrophes.

After years of planning, the National Coalition for Social Advancement gained additional organizational fortitude in the introduction of Melissa Bawaan to the project in 2023. Melissa and Tryce have been close friends, professional colleagues, and each other's source of community grounding for over twenty years. Melissa's background in human resource management, talent acquisition, community organizing, and non-profit partnership made her inclusion fortunate to the project. 

The women then worked on a plan for a non-profit organization that would offer a wide -range of resource support, advocacy, and resiliency-building services intended to support communities on both individual and organizational levels.

The Goal: Help bridge the gaps of the chasms they had to leap by utilizing the wealth of skills they brought with them from former and revisited disciplines. 

This non-profit works to become a self-sustaining structure for the purpose of funding four focuses: community infrastructure programs, tangible resources for community members to support health and social advocacy, and access to artistic and media skills that can help community members' needs, desires for their future, and concerns of the present to be heard.