FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Aretha McKinney
314.458.2095
aretha@whitpr.com
MINNEAPOLIS — April 7, 2026 — Jeremiah Program (JP) announced the launch of its 2026 Community Conversations Tour, a national series designed to elevate the voices of single mothers, examine the systemic barriers facing families, and advance solutions that drive economic mobility across generations.
Led by Chastity Lord, President and CEO of Jeremiah Program, the tour will convene community members, policymakers, educators, and advocates in cities across the country. Lord will be joined by Nicole Lynn Lewis, Founder and CEO of Generation Hope, bringing together two national leaders in the two-generation space to explore the future of family prosperity.
“At the Jeremiah Program, we know that when a mother succeeds, her children—and her community—succeed alongside her,” said Lord. “This tour is about listening deeply to families, challenging the systems that have historically excluded them, and advancing solutions rooted in what we know works. Generational poverty is not inevitable—it is the result of policy choices, and it requires bold, sustained investment to change outcomes.”
Across the country, single mothers continue to navigate systems that were not designed with their realities in mind. According to recent data, single mothers represent the majority of single-parent households, with a disproportionate number living at or below the poverty line. At the same time, more than 2 million single mothers are enrolled in postsecondary education—demonstrating both the demand for opportunity and the barriers that persist.
Through the Community Conversations Tour, Jeremiah Program will spotlight the critical role of its two-generation approach, which simultaneously invests in a mother’s education, career pathways, and leadership development while supporting her children’s academic success. The series will also elevate insights from families themselves, reinforcing JP’s belief that those closest to the challenges are essential to shaping the solutions.
Lewis’s forthcoming book, Student Parent: The Fight for Families, the Cost of Poverty, and the Power of College (March 2026), further underscores the urgency of addressing the structural barriers facing student parents and reimagining systems that support long-term economic mobility.
“Families are navigating challenges that require more than short-term solutions,” said Lewis. “This tour creates space to examine root causes, center lived experience, and push for the kind of systemic change that makes success possible for student parents.”
Insights from the 2026 Community Conversations will inform Jeremiah Program’s ongoing program innovation, policy advocacy, and national thought leadership—equipping leaders across sectors with actionable strategies to better support single mothers and their families.
2026 Community Conversation Schedule
April 2026
• Tuesday, April 21 — Las Vegas Community Conversation
May 2026
• Monday, May 4 — Virtual Community Conversation (Zoom)
• Friday, May 8 — Brooklyn Community Conversation
• Tuesday, May 19 — Boston Community Conversation
July 2026
• Tuesday, July 14 — Fargo Community Conversation
September 2026
• Friday, September 25 — Minneapolis–St. Paul Community Conversation
• Thursday, September 3 — Baltimore Community Conversation
• Wednesday, September 16 — Austin Community Conversation
December 2026
• Thursday, December 10 — Rochester, MN Community Conversation
About Jeremiah Program
Jeremiah Program (JP) is a national organization whose mission is to disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. By investing simultaneously in a mother’s vision for her personal and professional goals and the education of her children, she simultaneously reauthors her family’s outcome as well her community’s — proof points matter. In 2025, JP actively served over 2,000 moms and children across nine cities in Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Brooklyn, NY; Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN; Las Vegas, NV; Minneapolis, MN; Rochester, MN; and St. Paul, MN. To learn more about Jeremiah Program, visit jeremiahprogram.org.
About Generation Hope
Generation Hope is a nonprofit providing direct support and national advocacy and research for student parents in college. Founded in 2010, the organization has supported more than 500 teen parents in the Washington, D.C., region, Greater New Orleans, and Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex while driving systemic change nationwide to make higher education more family-inclusive for millions of parenting college students.