Mission Statement and Brief History
Mothers In Charge, Inc. (MIC) was founded in May of 2003 by Dorothy Johnson-Speight as a response to the murder of her 24-year old son over a parking space in December 2001. Through Dorothy Johnson-Speight’s vision, MIC has expanded over the last 11 years to serve hundreds of families affected by violence by engaging and supporting impassioned mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunts who are committed to working towards preventing violence and saving lives. Our mission is to work toward violence prevention through education, intervention, and advocacy for youth, adults, and families. The goals of Mothers In Charge are two-fold: to assist grieving families in their healing processes and participate in activities designed to stop violence in our communities including prevention education for perpetrators. The work of MIC’s founder, Dorothy Johnson Speight, has been recognized by local and national entities including the following: Philadelphia Magazine’s coveted Best of Philadelphia Award, recognition by Philadelphia Eagles 75th Anniversary Celebration as one of the 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians, selection by Philadelphia Tribune as one of 2012 Philadelphia’s Most Influential African American Leaders, selection by Philadelphia Inquirer as 2013 Citizen of the Year, and appointment by Mayor Michael Nutter to the Philadelphia Prison System’ Board of Trustees. The success of MIC has been recognized across the United States and has resulted in its replication in six other US cities. MIC also collaborated with Villanova University to produce the documentary, No Greater Pain, whichwas screened at the 2012 San Diego, CA and Chicago, Il Black Film Festival. The agency’s work has also had national media attention through its featured stories in Good Morning America in 2013 and Lisa Ling’s Our America aired July 10, 2014 on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Target Population: The majority of MIC’s members are women of color, reflecting the reality that people of color are more likely to be victims of urban violence and be incarcerated. More than 85% of our participants are low income and 95% African American. Mothers in Chargeservesboth victims and offenders throughout Philadelphia. For victims, MIC provides grief support and assistance to survivors of homicide victims throughimmediate outreach, group and individual counseling, and peer support services.For perpetrators, MIC offers pro-social conflict resolution and violence prevention education behind prison walls as well as for persons returning from incarceration.
Summary of Programs
Mothers In Charge has adopted unique blend of organizing and direct services to meet the enormous needs of those directly affected by crime and the criminal justice system.MIC has three departments (Victim Services and Advocacy, Youth Development, and Re-Entry/Re-Integration Services) that operate the following programs:
Grief Support/Victim Advocacy: MIC offers weekly individual and group support to 15 to 20 victims who have loved ones to violence. MIC assist families in filing compensations claims for victims, court accompaniment, crisis counseling, individual/group counseling, and grief support hot line.
Youth Development/Mentoring: Through a partnership with Carson Valley Children’s Aid, MIC has provides 100 at-risk girls yearly with much needed supportive services. MIC has also partnered with United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania for a mentoring campaign known as “1000 Women For 1000 Girls.” In addition, MIC has also partnered with the School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Youth Study Center, alternative high schools such as Youthbuild, the Philadelphia Prison System, and the Philadelphia Police Department.
Thinking For a Change:Mothers In Charge brings Thinking for a Change (T4C), a cognitive-behavioral change curriculum, inside the Philadelphia prison system facilities. Since T4C inception in 2010, MIC has engaged almost conducted 16 training cohorts resulting in 1000 incarcerated men, women, and youthful offenders receiving 25 training sessions providing pro-social problem solving skills leading to a reduction in recidivism.
Women Working for A Change: This program provides women, who have been recently released from prison, with 10-week paid job readiness and life skills classes.
Working Together For Women: This is a collaborative program with Caring Together women’s treatment program that targets women at pre and post-release of prison for identification and treatment of mental health and substance abuse issues with auxiliary concrete supports.
Anger Management: In collaboration with the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health, MIC delivers the Access to Recovery (ATR) program providing prevention education sessions that help individuals develop new life skills. The Philadelphia court system refers many of participants to ATR, especially for anger management.
Public Information and Education: MIC conducts public education and outreach within Philadelphia and nationally to facilitate discussions about this problem and develop effective solutions. Our organizing efforts within Pennsylvania help to engage the mothers and other women affected by violence in advocating for policy changes, while our national organizing efforts bring together these mothers in other cities to develop a national network that can learn from each other and enhance local efforts across the country.
Annual National Conference: The Cost of Violence: Our first conference was held in spring 2013 to help facilitate a multidisciplinary national discussion about the impact of violence. Over 200 Participants are exposed to inspirations speakers and skill-building workshops. The 2014 conference was held May 12th to 14th. A “Standing for Peace and Justice” national gathering is planned for June 6, 2015 to discuss the impact of violence on our nation.
Storytelling. Using the professional resources of the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health, MIC provides participants an opportunity to share their stories of grief, loss, triumph and rejuvenation. Storytelling provides a therapeutic group format for healing and connecting a maximum of 10 persons for six-week sessions.
Collaborative Partnerships: A key MIC collaborator is the Philadelphia Prison System that allows us to provide workshops to prisoners (male and female) and connect with their family and friend supports in the community. Our partnership with Clear Channel Outdoors, Inc. has provided us free billboards throughout Philadelphia that display information and photos of victims of unsolved murders with an anonymous tip line. The School District of Philadelphia is a partner with our "Stop the Violence" effort that offers parents, family and community resources. Health Partners, a nonprofit agency, helps us reach out to provide wellness information. Through MamaCita, A Mothers Cooperative in the Arts, we created a yearlong art installation memorializing mothers who lost family to violence. Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church is a collaborator as MIC offers a Grief and Support Program twice a month at the church facility. Our relationship with StoryCorps continues we encourage people from all backgrounds to share their stories of tragedy and triumph. Mothers In Charge also works closely with the "Stefan Presser Memorial Social Justice Shabbat of Germantown Jewish Center to advocate for common sense gun laws. The MIC website ( provides an ongoing calendar of events to educate constituents. The Executive Director has a Blog Radio Show that speaks to more audiences.
1