Decatur Woman, Daughters Show That 'Cool Moms Dance Too'

DECATUR, GA -- In February 2016 Quyionah Wingfield and her daughters, Serenity Marie, 9, and Jaira Jazzelle, 12, founded Cool Moms Dance Too! (CMDToo!) to help recover from a severe loss. The Atlanta-based organization focuses on dance, fitness, and expression classes specifically developed to increase family engagement and time addressing physical and mental health using the power of dance and discussion. CMDToo! aims to expand its reach by training program providers in family dance fitness and expression group classes.

In three years, CMDToo! has provided classes all over metro Atlanta, working with hundreds of families. They have formed partnerships and alliances with a wide variety of well-known non-profit organizations, including the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence, Mental Health America GA, Kate’s Club, Alzheimer's Association and a performance with the Atlanta Hawks.

Since launching CMDToo!, Wingfield, her daughters and their organization have benefitted from several personal and organizational development opportunities. In April 2018, CMDToo! was selected for the Emory University Goizueta Business School business accelerator program. The program provided Wingfield with business mentors, training and a $5,000 grant.

CMDToo! won 2nd place in A3C Action for Social Justice accelerator and pitch competition in November 2018.

Currently, Wingfield is completing a training initiative with the Center for Civic Innovation. She is involved with a group of engaged civic entrepreneurs with ideas, products, and services focused on improving the lives of others in the city of Atlanta. These leaders work in the areas of education, health, workforce development, housing, and social services. Over the past six months, they've been designing stronger solutions, testing the effectiveness of their interventions, and strategizing the opportunity to grow their impact.

In 2015, Wingfield was propelled into family health and wellness awareness after losing her partner to mental illness by suicide, and dealing with the traumatic after-effects for herself and family. After learning how mental illness impacts millions of families worldwide, the subject has become Wingfield’s mission in life: strengthening family connections with fun and engaging dance classes and educational programming.