Traci S. Campbell
At a time when families are dealing more and more with the effects of single-parent households, it’s great to have people like Traci S. Campbell out there. We had the amazing opportunity of speaking with Traci recently, and the conversation was great. Traci S. Campbell is the name behind C.H.A.M.P. Community Project, an amazing organization that prides itself in extending a hand to teens and adults in single parent households around the world. And she is also the founder of the Beauty In, Beauty Out (BIBO) Tour, which aims to celebrate the successes of women in local communities and promotes real beauty and real role models. While there have been a number of things the C.H.A.M.P. Community Project organization has been able to do along the lines of assisting single parents, the primary focus is to assist our youth. Obviously, many are parents themselves; however, there is also a tremendous amount of help and assistance (mental, emotional, financial, etc.) that is provided in helping them cope with being in a single parent household where perhaps mom, or dad, is not present. It may not even be a situation where divorce has happened; perhaps both parents are simply working. That can often leave the child an emotional wreck. Through the BIBO Tour, Traci has been able to hone in on a lot of the issues that women, specifically, face. More recently, Traci hosted the very first BIBO Awards Tour ceremony in Las Vegas (it was also held in Chicago in October) and one of the honorees that received a Reflection Award trophy was Meelah Williams, whom we also had the pleasure of featuring in this issue. Traci is doing some amazing things with BIBO, and it’s only going to get bigger. Take a moment to get to know track through our feature and learn about many of the other things that she and her great team have accomplished.
James Johnson: I am so grateful for you taking the time to talk tonight. I know the tour and awards ceremony has run in Las Vegas and Chicago. I wanted so badly to be there, but working another job, I couldn’t get the time away.
Traci S. Campbell: I’m in IT so I definitely understand. No worries, and hopefully, you’ll make it to an event in 2015.
James Johnson: I definitely plan on that. So tell me, being in IT, how did you branch into everything you have going on now?
Traci S. Campbell: I’m sure you know James, that it is a sacrifice at times. A sacrifice of time, money, sleep; all of those things. I’ve been doing it for a while so I’m used to it now. It started with the passing of my mother in 2007, that started this journey for me in embarking on the C.H.A.M.P. Within program, writing the book, and creating an educational program. Then the C.H.A.M.P. Community Project was formed, which is our 501(c)(3). All of this was done after she passed. She definitely was the catalyst, and my muse as I like to say. Eventually, BIBO was an
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