Strategic Plan

The Nia Project’s mission is to empower suicidal Black women with a history of adverse childhood experiences and/or intimate partner violence to be resilient and flourish, heal from their interpersonal traumas, find purpose in their lives and engage meaningfully in their communities.

“Nia” is a principle of Kwanzaa that means “purpose.” The Nia Project, which has been in existence since the early 1990s, is offered under the auspices of the Emory Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and based at Grady Health System. The Nia Project provides comprehensive, person-centered, culturally-responsive, trauma-informed and evidence-based individual, group and couple/family interventions and offers a compassionate, supportive and affirming and inclusive community.

The Nia Project aspires to:

• Reduce health disparities by partnering with the community, including Nia Project participants and the Nia Project Community Advisory Board, in ongoing program development and expansion, evaluation, improvement and dissemination
• Serve as a local, regional and national model for accessible, comprehensive, person-centered, culturally-responsive, trauma-informed and evidence-based behavioral healthcare for low-income Black women
• Prepare current and future generations to be culturally humble and trauma-informed behavioral health care leaders, practitioners, scholars and teachers
• Engage with Nia Project participants in participating in and spearheading community advocacy and policy development designed to ameliorate critical public health problems impacting the Black community: adverse childhood experiences, intimate partner violence, suicidal behavior, structural racism and genderism
• Create a sustainable and self-sufficient financial infrastructure that supports program initiatives, implementation and dissemination