Philana Swann, Co-Founder & President

Co-Founder, President and Executive Director of The New Tenth Foundation since May, 2021. The New Tenth Foundation’s mission is to enlighten the mind and the heart. Building the skill of hand and quickness of brain, without fear unless the child and adult mistake the means of living for the object of life.

Philana Swann is determined and passionate about making sure all youth are equipped and able to think for themselves; are confident when they speak; their emotions are in check and they have a science and math background that will enable them to compete in any environment. After seeing the economic disparities and lack of access to educational resources suffered by many young girls in her community; compounded by the fact that Atlanta is now the nation’s major hub for human trafficking and child sex exploitation according to the Atlanta Daily World publication, she felt compelled to develop a vehicle to teach self-esteem and engage young girls in healthy educational activities.

Philana lives by and believes that to lead you have to serve. She has organized shoes and clothing drives for orphans in Haiti and West Africa, to ensure that every child was able to have a pair of shoes to attend school. She has frequently planned and helped to prepare meals for the homeless in the Metro Atlanta area, such as Pine Street. Philana is very passionate about education, especially when it comes to educating younger children. So in 2009 she founded the Be Ruth Foundation, which created a program in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) devoted to getting young students excited about the STEAM learning approach, and introducing them to STEAM related careers while empowering them to excel and overcome obstacles.

In February, 2021 she, along with Marcus A. Turner, co-founded the New Tenth Foundation, Inc.recognizing that the best way to predict the future is to create it, namely through entrepreneurship with a solid foundation of financial literacy!

Working with young kids and helping others has always been apassion of hers, and has grown from an idea, to a conversation, to a full-grown program, and developed into the founding in 2009 of the Be-Ruth Foundation. Sheer grit and persistencemoved Be-Ruth along, but at a lumbering pace. But she had a vision of much more and allowed her curiosity to pursue that bigger vision. Divine intervention allowed her to meet Marcus A. Turner and the two quickly learned they shared a keen interest in educating young African American kids.

She says that the great thing about working in the non-profit industry is that “It’s a collaborative effort on the part of so many. We have students, parents, industry professionals, and college students, all working together with a common goal in mind.“ She is excited about the direction that The New Tenth Foundation is taking and looks forward to seeing it expand and reach more students. While the list of Philana’ s awards, and accolades is both extensive and impressive, the title that she is most proud of is that of mother and wife. She is a loving wife, mother of 3 daughters, nurturing daughter, niece, cousin and friend. Philana is a woman who overcame obstacles that would crush the strongest warrior. She is vocal about sharing her story to encourage others; to impress upon all children that they can overcome any odds!