Petersburg native Bianca Myrick named Remarkable Women 2024 finalist

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — March is Women’s History Month, and 8News is honoring Remarkable Women in Central Virginia, including one Petersburg native who has devoted her life to helping others find their purpose.

Bianca Myrick has made it her mission to help young girls find their motivation and make sure they have all the tools they need to find that same purpose in others.

Myrick is the executive director and founder of Pretty Purposed , a nonprofit mentoring program dedicated to empowering girls ages 9 to 14. The program supports over 175 girls in Petersburg, Hopewell, Chesterfield County, Dinwiddie County and Sussex County.

One member of the program, Zinijai Clinton, said that she’s learned numerous skills.

“I feel like we have learned about so many things like hygiene, how to take care of healthy relationships, red flags and all of that stuff. I feel like all of that stuff is really important because sometimes girls have a hard time dealing with that type of stuff,” Clinton said.

Myrick founded the organization in 2014, during the time she worked for 12 years as a teacher in Chesterfield County and Petersburg public schools, and began mentoring seven girls in Petersburg in 2015.

“Black women have always been staples of the community. Although our programs are very diverse, we do center Black and brown girls and our work just because of some of the historic under-resourced sourcing,” Myrick said.

Myrick currently works as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Virginia State University, where she teaches program planning and nonprofit leadership.

She is also a part-time executive director of the Virginia Association for Environmental Education , a professional grass-roots nonprofit that helps with professional development.

In addition, Myrick is a mother to her 12-year-old son, Bryce.

While much of her life has been centered on bringing positivity and motivation to others, she is also a domestic violence survivor but says her past doesn’t define her.

Myrick says she began Pretty Purposed when she was amidst a legal battle with her abuser.

She described the moment she realized that she wanted to start the nonprofit during that difficult situation.

“It was a dream of mine, but it was like, when am I realistically going to dedicate time to this? And then I had to be on leave from work due to those retaliation charges. And I was like, Well, I might as well do something until I go back to work,” Myrick said.

Myrick was recently ranked 34 in Style Weekly as one of Richmond’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2023.

She also has become the cofounder of Collective365 , a trust-based philanthropic group that focuses on helping other nonprofit businesses and leaders.

“Black women-led organizations that specifically work with girls are significantly underfunded. If you look at the statistics between black women led nonprofits and other nonprofits, the funding disparities are pretty wide,” Myrick mentioned.

Myrick said that as long as she continues to keep her faith in God and her passions and purpose in front of her, she is ready for anything.

“It’s amazing to show up in this space and be able to build community among Black women. That’s a challenge that we face. Whether it’s five girls or whether it’s 500 girls, the work that we do is really meaningful,” Myrick finished.

Myrick also mentors and provides internships to young women at Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University, all through the Pretty Purposed organization.

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