Dr Michelle Carrera Morales Creates Opportunity, Equity In Philly

PHILADELPHIA — Without community leaders, Philadelphia wouldn’t hum along nearly as smoothly as it does. We’d miss their contributions in big and small ways.

Patch has partnered with T-Mobile to recognize these often unsung community leaders and celebrate their contributions.

This submission comes from Stef Arck-Baynes, a Philadelphia reader who nominated Michelle Carrera Morales.

How do you know this community leader?

I work with her

What does this community leader do?

She is the CEO of Norris Square Community Alliance, a 501c3 reducing poverty for families in Philadelphia

Why do you believe the community leader should be recognized or honored?

Dr. Michelle Carrera Morales has been the Executive Director of the Norris Square Community Alliance (NSCA) since 2019, quietly providing life-changing, multi-generational poverty alleviation and social mobility programs for families. The organization’s holistic approach has focused on education, housing, and workforce development to create economic opportunity and equity for predominantly Hispanic people and others traditionally excluded from mainstream opportunities.

Its 2022 impact under Michelle’s includes:
Almost 3k Philadelphians participated in their programs
Just under 300 children attended their early education programs
2,700 people received free health screenings/testing
~16,600 meals provided to children
About 90 at-risk youth/young adults participated in Youth Empowerment Center programs providing workforce, mental health, and prevention services
Construction underway on 10 new affordable housing units

Relaunching as Xiente on September 15 – the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month – Michelle is about to unveil a new strategy for the organization that will impact more families and more geographies with new and improved programs (including a mobile preschool!) to help empower participants to move from poverty to middle class.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the community hero?

Michelle grew up in the projects of Puerto Rico, so her mission of multi-generational poverty alleviation is personal. Prior to NSCA (soon to be Xiente), Michelle spent over a decade with the Boys and Girls Club as the Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and, prior to that, as the Operations Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico.

A graduate of the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico with a doctorate in Education and a focus on Leadership and Management, Michelle is a disruptor and catalyst for change who believes that true prosperity lies not in individual success, but in the collective journey towards shared abundance.

In 2023, she was named an Einsenhower fellow – one of ten people across the country and the only one in Philadelphia to receive the distinction this year. Her fellowship will take her to Africa and The Netherlands in Fall 2023 to explore global solutions to poverty. She will bring this learning back to determine new and novel approaches to poverty alleviation to implement in Norris Square, with the goal of replicating its success to empower communities for economic mobility throughout Philadelphia … and beyond.

This content is brought to our community in partnership with T-Mobile.

Know a community leader who deserves a shout-out?

Nominate them here.