# Why Every Child Needs a Village and Why Local Founders Matter | Changemaker Education

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/feed/366359
- Entity ID: wefunder:feed_item:366359
- Published at: 2026-08-10 20:51:33 UTC
- Updated at: 2026-10-22 00:30:20 UTC

## Author
Joy Meserve

## Subject
Changemaker Education

## Content
One of the founders from Changemaker Education’s pilot cohort just reached an extraordinary milestone. Dr. Christina Pipkin delivered a TEDx talk titled “More than resilience: Why every child needs a village.”Pip, as we call her, is an experienced educator, researcher, and the visionary behind FAYE Learning Center.In her TEDx talk, Pip challenges us to reconsider the way we celebrate resilience in children because sometimes we miss the signs that a child is NOT doing well.When Pip described how we often celebrate children for being quiet, I got chills.That was me. I’m the girl in the turquoise sweatshirt in the front row of this photo.No one had any idea how much instability there was in my home. No one ever asked. And it never occurred to me that school could be a place where I could ask for support beyond academics.I was quiet. A good student. Responsible. Capable. Kind.From the outside, those qualities looked like signs that I was doing well.No one knew that, for years, I arrived at school and went home each day with a sinking feeling in my stomach.Sometimes the child who asks for the least is carrying far more than anyone realizes.This is why Pip’s message, and the work of local education founders like her, matters so much.Pip reminds us that a village is not something we simply hope a child happens to have.That village is something adults intentionally build around them.Children need more than systems that teach them to improve their academics. They need adults who notice. They need places where they are known. They also need communities intentionally built around their social and emotional well-being.That is what a microschool can make possible.A local founder can create the kind of close, connected learning community where a child is not simply one face in a crowded classroom. Where relationships are central to the design. Where families, educators, mentors, and community members become part of a child’s village.At Changemaker Education, we believe the people with the clearest vision for better schools are often already embedded in their communities. They understand the children, families, and needs that larger systems can overlook.Our role is to give those founders the structure, tools, operational support, and community they need to turn their vision into a sustainable school.Pip’s journey has not followed a perfectly straight line. Most meaningful work doesn’t. She has continued learning, adapting, and building while remaining deeply committed to her vision for children.That combination of conviction, humility, and persistence is exactly what local change requires, and exactly the kind of founder Changemaker Education exists to support.We are proud to have Christina Pipkin and others like her in our Changemaker community.Watch Pip’s TEDx talk, “More than resilience: Why every child needs a village”:https://youtu.be/BJ0aFX7r1PQ—Joy MeserveCOO, Changemaker Education