We recently connected with Mindy Binderman and have shared our conversation below.

Mindy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

I attended law school at American University in Washington, DC, and one of the things that drew me to the school was its location in our nation’s capital, I loved the energy and idealism of Washington in the 1990’s and hoped for a career in civil and human rights law.

I’ll never forget a speech that one of my favorite constitutional law professors gave us, and, in fact, the advice that he shared has guided much of my path. He told us that to really make an impact, we needed to leave DC where there was a surplus of lawyers hoping to make a difference. He urged us to go to smaller communities that needed us to advocate for education reform, criminal justice reform, civil rights, and other needed changes. He told us to build relationships with community members. He reminded us that there were communities throughout the country that needed our focus- and he was correct.

While I no longer practice law in the traditional sense, my career has been spent working to promote public policies that close opportunity gaps, support access to high quality education, and enhance family well being. And, I have found the most gratification in working in communities, first in Maryland, and for the last 18 years, in Georgia, where I can more easily get to know the stakeholders, understand community needs, and really impact change. I’ve like working at a local and a state level instead of on Capitol Hill in Washington, I like getting to know elected officials as human beings and partnering with them to respond to the needs of their constituents- state and local work is more personal and you are better able to see results in the community.

Mayor Dickens likes to say that Atlanta is a group project. One of the things that I love most about leading a nonprofit here is the wonderful partnerships we have built with public and private partners and our ability to work together to improve our communities. I think that would make my old law professor very proud!

Mindy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am the Executive Director of GEEARS; Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students. GEEARS was established in 2010, and I am its first Executive Director.

GEEARS’ mission is to build a statewide movement to support high-quality early learning and healthy development for Georgia’s youngest children from birth to five. We work across Georgia to align and mobilize key stakeholders in the business, civic, and legislative communities as well to engage providers, parents, and other advocacy organizations for collective impact. We drive change and create impact by using data and research to identify and communicate the strengths and the continuing needs in Georgia’s early education system. We build public awareness and will to act through paid, earned, and social meeting campaigns and public events, and we engage with policy makers at the federal, state and local levels.

Prior to working to establish GEEARS, I worked as a lobbyist in Annapolis, Maryland and then here in Georgia on education, health care, civil and criminal justice, and other related issues. I really had no intention of leading a nonprofit, until, one day, I received a call from Stephanie Blank who had just stepped up to lead the establishment of a new organization focused on children birth to five in Georgia. For anyone who knows the inspiring, brilliant, force of nature that is Stephanie Blank, you know that it is almost impossible to say no to her- and, indeed, I felt myself swept away by her vision for the new organization and excited by the opportunity to partner with her as executive director. And, nearly 13 years later, Stephanie and I continue to make a great team!

Today, with a staff of 14, GEEARS has a record of impact in Georgia. I’m proud of the systems-building work we have done to improve the quality of early education programs and of our work to promote infant and early childhood mental health. We lead the Georgia Infant and Toddler Coalition which is comprised of members from over 50 organizations who work together to promote policy change and support child care access and early childhood health. And, we’re the backbone of the PAACT ( Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive) Collaborative that serves as the Mayor’s partner for his $20 million plan for early learning. This historic initiative will provide capital improvements for child care programs, scholarships for families, and incentives for early educators as part of a strategy to ensure that Atlanta is the best place to raise a child.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I’ve built a strong team of smart, savvy, and passionate professionals, and one of my priorities is ensuring that we showcase their talents and continue to promote opportunities for them to grow and to lead. Our organization shines when the expertise of our team is evident, and, as I have gained more seniority, I have become more appreciative of the importance of sharing the spotlight.

At GEEARS, we also strive to practice what we preach in terms of being a family friendly workplace. In the pre-covid days, employees often brought their children to work. Now, we ensure that we allow flexible schedules so that our team can focus on family obligations when necessary.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met Stephanie Blank at the Georgia State Capitol building sometime around 2008. I was working as the government relations director of Voices for Georgia’s Children, and Stephanie was helping advocate for early learning policies. I remember being impressed by her knowledge of the issues, by the quality of the questions that she asked, and by her ability to connect with a wide range of people.

Of course, when I first met Stephanie, she was the intimidatingly beautiful wife of Arthur Blank, co-founder of the Home Deport and owner of the Falcons. She’s still beautiful, but, after working with her for 13 years and co-creating this organization, I’ve learned that she is genuine, smart and kind- and if you spend even a short amount of time with her that becomes evident. She’s endlessly creative and thoughtful. When we are in a meeting and she begins to speak, I know that she will provide clarity to a complex conversation. And, she is passionate about early childhood and children sense that- she’s like the Pied Piper when we visit early education programs.

When we met to discuss whether I would agree to be the Executive Director and build GEEARS with her, we dreamed up the name of the organization together and then I watched her doodle what would become our logo on a napkin at dinner.

I think that the key to developing a strong relationship with a co-founder is mutual respect and trust. Having a board leader like Stephanie who creates the excitement around an issue like early childhood learning and who respects my professional expertise and judgement has made all the difference in building a strong organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.geears.org