Oakland, CA–March 14, 2008. Mills College MBA student Martha Braithwaite has won a national honor for her work to help teenage mothers create a path out of poverty through education.

Braithwaite was one of 13 winners selected from 900 applicants nationwide to win the U.S. Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly award sponsored by Avon Products, Inc. that supports individuals working to empower women and improve society.

A former teenage mother herself, 26 year-old Braithwaite co-founded Moms Mentoring Moms in 2007 with Daphina Marshall-Fuller, also a former teenage mom and fellow Mills student. The program provides teen mothers with mentoring from former teenage moms, and workshops on planning for college, creating long-term goals, and developing parenting skills.

"The teenage moms in our program have already overcome more obstacles than most people face in a lifetime," said Braithwaite. "Their life stories are remarkable triumphs showing their enormous potential."

Braithwaite will receive $5,000 for the Moms Mentoring Moms program to fund childcare, food for children, and transportation for teen moms to attend ten Moms Mentoring Moms workshops this year. Braithwaite hopes the teens will eventually become mentors for other teens. Her goal is to create a sustainable support system for long-term self sufficiency, enabling teen moms to succeed at mothering and academics. The program receives support from Brighter Beginnings, an Oakland-based nonprofit organization that works with low income and at risk families in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

Braithwaite and Marshall-Fuller developed the mentoring program as a result of their undergraduate studies with the Mills College Institute for Civic Leadership. The Institute awarded Braithwaite a small grant to research model programs that help teen mothers complete college. Braithwaite earned her BA in public policy in 2006, and Marshall-Fuller received her BA in ethnic studies in 2007.

"Moms Mentoring Moms is a solid model for success," said Anne Dowling, a judge of the Avon Fund program. "Teen mothers will learn firsthand how to overcome obstacles, be better parents, and give back to the community."

Braithwaite is currently organizing a spring event, "Uplifting Student Families: A Roundtable Discussion on Educational Success." The roundtable will bring together parenting students and organizations to raise awareness of the issues facing young moms and the critical role of education in their success.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, on 135 lush acres, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Ranked one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women's leadership, social responsibility, and creativity.

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