Influential Women spotlights Girls of Excellence founder Toya M. Russell Phillips

Influential Women has featured Toya M. Russell Phillips, MBA, the Atlanta nonprofit leader behind Girls of Excellence, Inc., for her work mentoring hundreds of girls across the metro area. The profile highlights her nearly 30 years in nonprofit leadership, her focus on mentorship and whole-person support, and the challenges facing youth-serving organizations.

Why it matters: - Girls of Excellence, Inc. serves hundreds of girls in the Atlanta metropolitan area with mentoring, leadership development, and life skills. - The profile centers attention on the role nonprofit leaders play in expanding access to trusted mentorship, support systems, and opportunities for underserved girls. - Phillips frames mentorship as a tool that can change a young person’s long-term trajectory.

What happened: - Influential Women profiled Toya M. Russell Phillips, MBA, founder and CEO of Girls of Excellence, Inc. - The profile was published July 21, 2026, in Atlanta. - Phillips has nearly three decades of nonprofit leadership experience. - Phillips also co-founded The Girls Cooperative, a coalition focused on increasing awareness, resources, and support for organizations serving girls. - The profile included a connect page for Toya M. Russell Phillips.

The details: - Girls of Excellence runs year-round mentoring, leadership camps, service projects, and community initiatives. - The organization provides social-emotional support, practical life skills, and personal growth opportunities. - Phillips oversees mentor coordination, school partnerships, financial operations, program evaluation, and growth strategy. - Phillips has also worked in youth development, family services, and community engagement. - Her background in business management informs her work in organizational leadership, fundraising, partnerships, and strategic development. - Phillips said her mission is shaped by growing up without consistent access to mentorship, resources, and support systems. - Phillips said her own experiences pushed her to help girls access trusted mentors and meaningful opportunities. - The profile says Phillips credits faith, dedication, commitment, courage, and confidence for her success. - The profile says strong women in her life helped shape her belief in herself. - Phillips said rejection is not failure and can create growth and redirection. - Phillips said a mentor once encouraged her to never limit herself and to pursue opportunities with confidence. - Phillips advises young women entering nonprofit and community service work to prepare, stay optimistic, be creative, and persevere. - Phillips said awards, grants, and recognition matter, but the deeper reward is seeing personal transformation in the people being served. - Phillips said the most powerful moments come when a young person says a program, mentor, or opportunity changed their life.

Between the lines: - The profile presents Phillips as part nonprofit executive, part community builder, with a focus on both individual mentoring and broader system change. - Phillips argues that youth programs work best when education, mental health resources, and social-emotional support are connected rather than siloed. - Funding remains one of the biggest pressures on nonprofit organizations, especially those serving youth. - Recruiting committed mentors is another persistent challenge for Girls of Excellence and similar groups. - The emphasis on integrity, trust, respect, and support suggests Phillips sees leadership as values-driven as much as operational.

What's next: - Phillips plans to keep expanding access to mentorship and whole-person support for girls. - Phillips continues to advocate for policies and initiatives that strengthen opportunities for young people. - Girls of Excellence will keep relying on mentor recruitment, school partnerships, and community collaboration to widen its reach. - Phillips says stronger connections across education and mental health systems could improve outcomes for the young people she serves.

The bottom line: - Phillips’ profile positions mentorship as both a personal mission and a community strategy for helping young women build confidence, skills, and opportunity.