We recently connected with Sharniece Jamison and have shared our conversation below.
Sharniece, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
In 2024 I lost my only child, Saniah Taylor to Meningitis while she was away attending college. Saniah was a third year Psychology student at Clark Atlanta University. Since then, I have created a Non Profit Foundation called The Guardians of Youth Foundation. Our mission is to spread awareness and provide the education to families to assist them in making informed prevention decisions. We also focus on patient advocacy for young adults transitioning to adulthood, the goal is to prepare them for their medical and dental visits that will be without their parents.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
For readers who are just learning about my journey, I wear a few different hats, but they all center around a singular focus: stewardship, strategic leadership, and advocacy. Professionally, I serve as an Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Governance Oversight for Corporate Real Estate and Procurement in corporate banking, and I am currently expanding my leadership toolkit as an MBA candidate.
However, my deepest passion—and the work closest to my heart—lies in the non-profit sector. I am the founder of The Guardians of Youth Foundation (The GOY Foundation), a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to spreading public awareness about disease prevention, with a specialized focus on meningitis education, vaccination awareness, and student self-advocacy.
Every impactful mission has a defining catalyst. For me, that catalyst is my daughter, Saniah. The journey into public health advocacy wasn’t a corporate path I chose; it was a calling born out of a mother’s lived experience. Navigating the critical importance of youth health, prevention, and the gaps in public awareness made me realize how vital it is for families and young people to have a fierce advocate in their corner. Witnessing Saniah navigate her own path—including her hands-on experience in healthcare environments, reinforced a crucial reality: our youth need to be equipped with the knowledge, confidence, and resources to advocate for their own health and well-being.
Driven by the desire to ensure no family is left in the dark about preventable diseases, I founded The GOY Foundation. We stepped into the public health space to turn personal purpose into a collective shield for our community’s youth.
Through The GOY Foundation, we focus on education, community engagement, and empowerment. Our core initiatives include:
Meningitis Awareness & Education: Demystifying the disease, explaining the critical differences in vaccine strains, and ensuring parents and students know what vaccines are available for school and university life.
Student Self-Advocacy Training: Equipping young people with the tools to speak up for themselves in medical settings, ask the right questions, and take ownership of their health.
Community Engagement Events: Organizing high-impact awareness campaigns, such as our upcoming fundraising benefit for World Meningitis Day on October 3, 2026, at Home Run Dugout in Katy, Texas, which aims to bridge the gap between corporate sponsorship and grassroots health
In the public health and non-profit space, information can often feel clinical, overwhelming, or detached. The GOY Foundation solves the problem of accessibility. We translate complex health requirements and medical urgency into relatable, actionable community education.
What truly sets us apart is the unique intersection of the board members background and our day to day work in financial management, governance oversight, law and pediatrics means that The GOY Foundation is built on a rock-solid operational foundation. We bring corporate efficiency, strict compliance, and high-level strategic planning to the non-profit sector. We aren’t just reading from a textbook. Our mission is fueled by real family experiences, a mother’s dedication to her daughter Saniah, and a genuine, deeply rooted tie to the communities we serve.
I am incredibly proud of how we have managed to blend strict corporate governance, law, and pediatrics with deep, empathetic grassroots advocacy. A recent milestone that stands out is completing intensive advocacy training with the American Society for Meningitis Prevention. Collaborating with national leaders to sharpen our local impact has been incredibly rewarding.
But above all, I am most proud of helping build an organization that honors the next generation. Watching the foundation grow from an idea into a fully recognized 501(c)(3) that can actively rally corporate sponsors, health advocates, and families together is a profound honor.
If there is one thing I want you to take away about myself and The GOY Foundation, it is this: Prevention is a community responsibility, and self-advocacy is a superpower. Whether you are a potential corporate sponsor looking to make a measurable social impact, a parent trying to navigate school immunization checklists, or a young person learning to use your voice, The GOY Foundation is here as a resource, a shield, and a partner. We are growing rapidly, utilizing every modern tool from advanced data analytics to strategic corporate partnerships to ensure our youth are protected.
We invite you to join us on this journey, whether by supporting our upcoming World Meningitis Day benefit in October, sharing our educational content, or partnering with us to bring self-advocacy workshops to more young people. Together, we are guarding the future.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Beyond the technical frameworks of governance and the advocacy training I’ve undergone, I believe the most critical factor for success is the ability to build relational trust across diverse environments.
In my world, I’m constantly moving between two very different high-stakes arenas: the corporate boardroom and the community focused mission of The GOY Foundation.
What has been most helpful in our success is adaptive communication. In governance and procurement, I have to speak the language of risk, compliance, and strategy. But when I’m advocating for meningitis awareness, I’m speaking to parents, students, and community leaders. Success in my field requires being like a translator and taking complex, rigid concepts like a corporate governance policy or a medical vaccination schedule, and making them relatable and urgent for the person sitting across from me. I’ve realized that gaving emotional intelligence is also key. The work we do with the foundation was born out of a personal mission involving my daughter, Saniah. In any field driven by passion or high level oversight, you will face no’s, red tape, and setbacks. Having the emotional intelligence to separate a “no” from your worth, and the resilience to pivot when a strategy fails, is what keeps you moving. You have to be anchored by your why so the how doesn’t exhaust you. Lastly, and one of the most important concept to help with success is being authentic. In both corporate leadership and the non-profit sector, people can sense when you are checking a box versus when you truly care. When people see that your advocacy is rooted in real world experience, they aren’t just following a brand; they are joining a movement.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?
Starting a venture like The Guardians of Youth Foundation requires more than just a mission, it requires a disciplined approach to capital formation that bridges personal financial strategy with the operational needs of a 501(c)(3) organization.
My journey to securing initial funding for the Foundation was built on a foundation of professional experience, strategic resource allocation, and a commitment to scalability.
I approached the capitalization of the Foundation not as a single infusion of cash, but as a three-pillar strategy (personal capital, operational efficiency, and fundraising) designed to ensure both immediate operational readiness and longterm sustainability. The initial capital was the spark, but the ongoing sustainability is driven by the structure we’ve put in place. By focusing on events that offer high engagement opportunities for the community, such as the October fundraiser, we are moving the Foundation into a phase where it can sustain its own advocacy work, reducing the reliance on personal capital and inviting the broader community to invest in our mission of public health and disease prevention.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.thegoyfoundation.org
- Instagram: @TheGoyfoundation
- Facebook: @SharnieceNinaJamison
- Other: Email: Info@thegoyfoundation.org
