Shamyiah Williams
Next Generation: Girl’s Talk (NGGT)
Master of Education in Elementary Education
Walls, MS
Shamyiah Williams is a passionate educator committed to helping students in the Greater Delta realize their full potential—academically, emotionally, and socially. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Shamyiah moved to Robinsonville, Mississippi to pursue her dream of making a tangible difference in education. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Delta State University and joined Teach For America in 2022, where she began her journey teaching Kindergarten at Clarksdale Collegiate Public Charter School. Now teaching 5th-grade math, Shamyiah has rediscovered her love for teaching and empowering students through intentional mentorship and social-emotional development.
Project Feature: Next Generation: Girl’s Talk (NGGT)
Shamyiah’s social entrepreneurship project, Next Generation: Girl’s Talk, was born from her deep belief that education must extend beyond academics. As a teacher and mentor, she recognized a profound gap: young girls were expected to succeed without the tools, support, or safe spaces to navigate the emotional and social challenges of growing up.
NGGT creates a safe, judgment-free environment for girls to explore topics often overlooked in traditional classrooms—hygiene, self-respect, boundaries, body image, healthy relationships, and the realities of societal pressure. Many of the girls Shamyiah serves are navigating internalized stereotypes, early grooming, or oversexualization—realities that few adults openly discuss with them. NGGT boldly fills that gap, centering student voice, empathy, and empowerment.
The program meets weekly on Wednesdays, offering 30-60 minute sessions that are part group discussion, part emotional check-in, and part personal development. In its first year, 50 girls joined. While the group has naturally refined down to a committed cohort of 20 returning participants, the impact is clear: girls feel seen, heard, and respected. In the next school year, these returning participants will mentor incoming 5th-grade girls, creating a peer-led model of leadership and sisterhood.
Fellowship Reflections
Through the TFA Graduate Fellows Program, Shamyiah has learned how to lead with confidence and resilience. “I’ve learned not to take setbacks personally,” she reflects. “Even if numbers change, the mission remains the same—serving girls who need this space to thrive.” The fellowship has also helped her sharpen her time management, balancing the demands of a full classroom while facilitating a dynamic extracurricular program.
Looking Ahead
Shamyiah dreams of scaling Next Generation: Girl’s Talk beyond Clarksdale. Her vision is to establish NGGT as a sustainable mentorship and SEL program that expands across schools in the Mississippi Delta—and eventually back home to Memphis, Tennessee. What began as a classroom initiative is now evolving into a movement of empowered young women who uplift each other and challenge harmful narratives.
“I want our girls to value themselves as strong, intellectual beings in the 21st century—not as the stereotypes society tries to place on them.”