After spending more than 25 years in the nonprofit industry creating, launching and leading programs based in communities, schools, colleges and the arts and entertainment sectors, she is harnessing her love of sharing beauty with everyone she knows and creating a movement that will ignite girls, young women and mothers to pursue beauty that revives, restores and refreshes the soul.
She has assisted in the creation of the Authentic Beauty Conference and launched efforts that include Be Brave Girls Art Camp, Annual Immersive Literary Retreats, Summer of Wonder and Riches Cottage School.
Her life's testimony is embodied in "Beauty for Ashes," but that is a story to share over a cup of tea.
Until then, let's lead a Revival of Beauty!
Bella hosts workshops for our She Beholds Community and will lead our inaugural Summer Arts Pilgrimage in Italy Experience for high school girls.
An artist and illustrator, Bella graduated from Gordon College, earning a BA in Art with a concentration in Design.
She brings her creativity and experience in developing arts programs in local Title I schools, teaching art classes, mural design, and helping writers' visions come to life through book illustration. She spent more than a year studying and working in Italy — traveling and engaging with master works of art at iconic museums, cathedrals and historic places.
Bella is currently writing and illustrating her debut Picture Book about what happens when a content-to-be-loner travels to the quiet, small hilltop town of Orvieto and goes on a journey that awakens his heart to wonder and the value of community.
Studying Literature at Wheaton College, Maddie has a passion for stories that lift the soul and lead us to wonder. She has worked at the Wade Center, home of the Inklings archives, and with World Relief to craft stories that compel others toward compassion. As an Aequitas Fellow she engaged fellow students and local youth in community storytelling and arts projects. She also traveled to Mexico's center of arts to engage with local artists and culture.
Maddie's passion for helping led her to serve as cabinet member of the Honduras Project, where she led efforts to provide running water to rural villages. Previously she worked for a year as an AmeriCorps member at Project Hope Alliance, inviting others in eliminating barriers homelessness causes in the life of kids.
Indeed, "Beauty will save the world!"