Local woman recognized as one of 10 L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth

Anna Blount is founder of Team Up Mentoring in Monroe

Anna Blount, founder of Team Up Mentoring in Monroe, has been selected from thousands of submissions across the nation to be named one of 10 women recognized as this year’s L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth! 

At 9 a.m. on Oct. 11, Blount was announced as part of this year’s honoree class.

“To elevate their exemplary initiatives to audiences across the nation, the 2022 honoree class will join a multifaceted alumnae network of 160 individuals, who champion a diverse range of causes,” according to the press release.

In recognition of their charitable work, Blount and each of the other nine woman chosen will receive: 

• $20,000 in funding to support their endeavors 
• Mentorship from the L’Oréal Paris community 
• The brand’s national platform to share their story & more 

During the month of November, your readers will also be able to visit WomenofWorth.com to read the stories of all 10 women, and vote to help name this year’s National Honoree, who will receive an additional $25k for their charity. 

Each year, the philanthropic initiative recognizes the charitable achievements of community leaders who epitomize extraordinary passion and commitment to our nation’s most vulnerable communities – receiving a charitable grant to support their mission, mentorship from the global beauty brand’s network, and a national platform to share their story with Americans across the country.

Anna is the founder of Team Up Mentoring, which fosters generation change for families affected by trauma. The Harvard Center on the Developing Child defines trauma as an experience of serious adversity or terror – or the emotional or physical response to that experience. Having these experiences at a young age, especially 4 or more, indicates an increased likelihood of long-term negative health outcomes such as, changes in the structure of the brain, increased fight or flight response, and impaired learning and short term memory. Anna and Team Up Mentoring provides trauma-informed mentoring and case management by utilizing a holistic approach with young people in the following areas: education, wellness, long-term, healthy relationships and transportation.

Blount shared what this award means to her and Team Up Mentoring.

“We believe every child deserves a team— and we’ve been proud to provide a team for children and families in Walton County. Now, we’d like to start looking at how we can do that for more child trauma survivors and their families outside of our community,” Blount said. “It’ll take a lot of work for us to get to that point, but we’d like to use the funds to help us prepare to do just that.” 

The community can now go to WomenofWorth.com to read Blount’s story, and to vote to show appreciation for her contributions in helping local families affected by trauma. The voting also gives her a chance at that extra $25,000 towards Team Up Mentoring’s future goals.