Most people find IAWA and then decide to believe in it. Not Carrie Miller Brandt — she believed in our mission and the impact we could have, even before we had a name. She and our Founder, Meisha Robinson met as Peace Corps Volunteers in Benin, West Africa, years before IAWA, and what Carrie saw in those early conversations stayed with her: a woman with a clear-eyed understanding of what young people needed and a relentless determination to do something about it. And when IAWA finally launched, she was already in.

“Even in those days, Meisha had this clear sense that what young people really needed was the tools and the belief system to go build their own futures,” Carrie says. “That’s basically what IAWA grew up to be.”

Carrie grew up in Minnesota and later made Washington, DC home. Today, she is Head of People at Interra Health and lives in the Brookland area of Washington, DC, where she is raising two boys and a rescue pit bull named Azula. Outside of work, she makes time for hiking, strength training, friends, and a steady rotation of spy thrillers and classic comedies.

Her connection to IAWA has remained steady over the years. Carrie has been a donor since the organisation’s early days and has also served, from time to time, as a sounding board for Meisha on HR-related questions as IAWA has grown. Carrie describes her involvement simply: she has been happy to “cheer from the sidelines.” And her faith in Meisha has made that easy. “Her energy is infectious — I’d genuinely sign up to support almost anything she decided to run.”

For Carrie, though, IAWA is also deeply personal. It connects her to a formative period of her own life and to a friendship that has continued through different seasons. “It’s a living connection back to who I became in Benin, before I had a career or a family, and to the friendship that shaped both.”

She has watched IAWA grow from an idea into an organisation with structure, curriculum, and young people moving through its programmes. That growth, she says, has been “one of the more quietly meaningful things” she has had the chance to witness. “It’s not just a cause I support, but a reminder of what’s possible when you invest in people early and stick with them for the long haul.”

That belief in long-term investment also shapes the way Carrie thinks about giving. In her work, she spends a lot of time thinking about how people grow and develop over time, and she sees recurring giving in much the same way. “Nothing meaningful shows up in a single moment. A one-time gift feels good in the moment, but it’s sustained giving — year after year — that actually lets an organisation plan, grow, and take the kind of long bets IAWA is built on.”

For Carrie, consistency matters. If she only gave when she happened to feel inspired or was reminded, she says, she would be “an unreliable partner to something that depends on reliability.”

When Carrie looks ahead, what excites her most is seeing what becomes of the young people who have already passed through IAWA. She hopes IAWA’s earliest ambassadors, now adults, will become part of a strong alumni network: starting businesses, leading in their communities, and returning to mentor the young people coming after them.

“That’s when you know something has really taken root — when it starts reproducing itself,” she says. “I’m genuinely curious to see what the next 10 years looks like!”

We are too, Carrie. Thank you for being part of IAWA’s journey, and for continuing to grow with us.

In It for the Long Haul: Why Carrie Has Believed in IAWA From the Start

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