“When the world told the caterpillar its life was over, the butterfly objected, “My life has just begun.”- Matshona Dhliwayo
Tatyanna M. Wilkinson is a seasoned youth development professional and community health educator with over 25 years of experience empowering young women through innovative programming, mentorship, and advocacy. She is the founder of Smart Girl, Wise Woman (SGWW), a cross-cultural empowerment program for adolescent girls and young women ages 14-24.
Philosophy
Tatyanna’s work is grounded in the belief that young women aren’t problems to be fixed but assets whose development must be supported. She centers anti-racist, culturally responsive approaches that honor young women’s identities and empower them to become leaders in their own lives and communities. Her mixed-race identity and lifelong navigation of sociopolitical corners informs her deep commitment to creating brave spaces where all young women can explore their authentic selves.
Finding My Life’s Work
Tatyanna realized that youth development was her life’s work when she followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a second generation V.I.S.T.A. volunteer (now AmeriCorps) in Springfield, Massachusetts. Working as a community manager at a housing project in the South End, the same neighborhood where she grew up, she established a resident activity assessment and secured grant funding for an afterschool program. The inspiring energy and hope of the teen participants sparked a lightbulb moment: this was what she was supposed to do for the rest of her life.
Born in Northampton in 1968 to a Black father and White mother, at the height of the civil rights movement, Tatyanna’s seeds were watered with activism and community engagement from day one. When her parents were told to “pick a color” for her birth certificate at a time when miscegenation was still illegal in thirteen states, they wanted to leave it blank. The doctor refused to sign unless they chose. So they wrote “pink” on the dotted line, an act of satire and activism that set the stage for how Tatyanna would navigate the world.
Current Work:
In 2024, Tatyanna returned to academic learning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s University Without Walls program to deepen her knowledge and skills. She graduates in May 2026 with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Youth Development and Community Health Education for Women and Girls.
In Fall 2025, she completed an Independent Study in Program Evaluation , crafting a comprehensive evaluation plan for her Smart Girl, Wise Woman cross-cultural curriculum. In Spring 2026, she is volunteering in Zagreb, Croatia, implementing and evaluating the SGWW program in partnership with Ocean Znanja, a Croatian youth NGO.
The current pilot program in Zagreb, Croatia represents the culmination of Tatyanna’s life’s work: bringing together research, lived experience as a mixed-race woman, and 25 years of youth development practice to create transformative programming for young women navigating cultural identity and personal empowerment.
Career Highlights
Over her 25-year career, Tatyanna has worked on the front lines of youth development and community health education:
Springfield, Massachusetts (1994-1999):
- VISTA Volunteer Community Organizer
- Youth Programs Coordinator at Southwest Community Health Center, founding the center’s youth employment and health education program
- Developed curriculum and facilitated a health education theater program
- Served on the Community Violence Prevention Task Force during advocacy for mandatory gun locks
- Board member at the newly opened Southwest Community Health Center and South End Community Center
- Participated in Youth on Board training, sparking a lifelong passion for youth governance participation
Los Angeles, California (1999-2014):
- Health educator at LA Free Clinic’s Project A.B.L.E., conducting theater-based education with at-risk youth
- Program developer at Girls Inc. of Greater Los Angeles, designing and presenting full-day training conferences for 200+ reproductive health education professionals
- Created teen leadership and philanthropy curriculum that secured $25,000 in funding, establishing a Teen Leadership Council where young women trained project teams and funded six community projects
- National Office Director of W.Y.S.E. (Women & Youth Supporting Each Other), managing national operations of a pregnancy prevention through mentoring organization with two dozen volunteer-led university chapters