About Us

Our Mission

The mission of Operation Chit Chat Foundation, INC. is to establish healthy relationships with youth and families, to enhance leadership skills, decision making, pro-social friendships and strong interpersonal skills, so that each person can successfully stand out when opportunities ascend.

Key Principles:

Communication: To establish healthy relationships with each participant, with a desire to enhance each participant's leadership skills, decision making, pro-social friendships, and interpersonal skills so that he or she can successfully stand out when opportunities ascend.

Compromise: Operation Chit Chat Foundation, INC. understands that the youth have a voice and they have a “love language,” and our goal is to expand the perspective of young people to make them aware of life's possibilities.

Consistency: Operation Chit Chat Foundation, INC. understands the importance of consistency between a child and his or her parent, caregivers, and mentors. The more consistency, the more stable the child will feel. Without consistency, kids have a hard time controlling themselves.

Community: An individual is dramatically influenced by their support system. Operation Chit Chat Foundation, INC. wants to surround young people in a caring, inclusive learning environment.

Operation Chit Chat was established in 2018 as a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Gather

Connect

Gather

”A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.”

-Bob Proctor

Focus

Connect

Gather

”Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”

-Plato

Connect

“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living — if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.”

-Denzel Washington

Founder & Executive Director

Kedria Knight has worked in the Atlanta Public School system for over 16 years and has declared a degree in Human Services with a minor in Christian Studies. She has acquired an abundance of knowledge on trauma and the brain through Georgia State University. It has become natural to express her passion and sincere dedication to helping others as she cultivates and gains more wisdom. She realized very early in life the difference between telling others that you care and showing them you care. Through mentoring, she displays critical, holistic approaches by compromising, showing consistency, and building confidence and communication skills. She hopes this will work as a positive message to the many people she impacts through her non-profit Operation Chit Chat.

Operation Chit Chat Foundation, Inc is a non-profit that she launched in November 2018. An African proverb inspired her that states, "It takes a village to raise a child." Having worked as an administrator in some of the city's lowest-performing schools, she believes the proverb is true. Through her non-profit, she aspires to be a part of the village and leave an everlasting impact on the kids, helping them overcome their adversities. She believes that having continued support from many people can help bring much-needed support into the lives of many children today. Her passion for helping others led her to decide to go back to school and gain knowledge on better ways to give back to the lives of many children through mentorship and empowerment.

Member of Junior League of Atlanta

Women in Transition of Atlanta

Volunteer for Atlanta CASA

Serve as the President for Global Impactors Toastmasters

Rainbows For All Children Mentor & Facilitator

Volunteer Chaplain for Georgia Department of Corrections & Volunteer Mentor for DJJ

Award Support Person of the Year

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”

― Margaret

Board of Directors

Kiera Hicks (Chief Operating Officer)

Kiera Hicks was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Spelman College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education Studies. Since graduating, Kiera has worked at a low performance school within the Fulton County School System in an impoverished area. She started out as a special education paraprofessional but has now extended her resume to teaching both kindergarten and second grade. While working with children, Kiera has been able to witness the impact low socioeconomic status has on education, lack of parental involvement, and overall trauma that many of the children endure. As a result, she has committed to becoming more knowledgeable in helping families. Kiera is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. The more knowledge she acquires, the more it becomes natural for her to express her passion for helping others. She is dedicated to helping people understand themselves and helping to build wellness and resilience. Kiera believes that with consistency, support, and passion, she will be able to have a positive impact on every life that she touches.

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Dr. Erica Donerlson (Secretary)

Kiera Hicks (Chief Operating Officer)

Dr. Erica Donerlson, currently serve as the Secretary for Operation Chit Chat Foundation, INC. She has a B.A., M.A., and Ed.D. Degree in Early Childhood Education and Teacher Leadership. Her areas of certification are Educational Leadership, Gifted Education, and Teacher Support Specialist. She have enjoyed 24 years of teaching in the Atlanta Public School System. She is enthusiastic and prepared to contribute her knowledge to the curriculum and to maximize the student learning experience.

It is her belief that students achieve when the learning environment welcomes exploration and student confidence.

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Advisory Board Members

Dr. Anissa Howard

Tracee Girtman-Ragland

Dr. Anissa Howard is an adjunct instructor of Psychology at Central Georgia Technical College. She attended the University of Georgia where she earned Doctoral, Master’s, and Bachelor’s degrees in in the areas of counseling and psychology, she has a dual license in the state of Georgia as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Marriage and Family Therapist. Anissa is a National Certified Counselor; Anissa maintains a small private practice in Georgia. Throughout the years, Anissa has obtained extensive experience working with families and individuals involved with the Department of Family and Children Services and the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Tracee Girtman-Ragland

Tracee Girtman-Ragland, has worked in education for 13 years. In this time, she has served as a successful mathematics teacher at the elementary and middle school level. Currently she serves as a middle school Math Improvement Coach to increase teacher effectiveness in a turnaround school. Tracee is more than aware of what happens to a dream deferred and has committed to teaching the whole child beyond the classroom.

Mrs. Girtman-Ragland holds an Ed.S. from the University of Phoenix, M.Ed. from National-Louis University and a B.S. from Grambling State University. She has also presented at the Georgia PBIS conference on strategies to discourage behaviors resulting in out-of-school suspension and lost instructional days for students.

Cheryl Williams

Tracee Girtman-Ragland

Cheryl Williams

Cheryl Williams earned her M.Ed. in Psychology and Counseling from Troy University. She is a mental health professional for more than fifteen years and university lecturer in the field for approximately ten years. She has worked for over 20 years with various state and county agencies as a public servant professional to both children/adolescents from undeserved populations and adults who may have experienced mental health and/or addiction diseases. Mrs. Williams is devoting her time to serve and support children who may have experienced various types of trauma and mentoring students pursuing higher educational and career goals.