Malkia Newman, LOXXI is a special woman, special because she has overcome great personal obstacles. In addition to becoming a single mother at a young age, she also overcame a mental health diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. When people meet her this often takes many by surprise.

She was diagnosed and began her recovery journey in 2001. Bipolar disorder is an illness marked by extreme shifts in mood ranging from manic highs to depressive lows. Learning coping skills, which in Malkia's case includes medication, therapy and other support, she's living life to the fullest. She says, "People tend to think of people with mental health conditions in negative ways. They believe that we are dangerous or harmful." She's happy to report the facts, that violent crime is committed by 4% of people with mental health conditions. She often says, "Who should we really be afraid of, the other 96%!"

Today she is the Team Supervisor and Community Educator for Community Network Services' Anti-Stigma Program. She has shared her recovery story with thousands of people all over the county giving people hope and the knowledge that recovery is possible.

Each year she shares her story with Cornerstone leaders during our Non-Profits & Human Services session. She began sharing her story with her own class, LOXXI. Malkia says she had heard of Leadership Oakland in the past but didn't have the finances to invest initially. After becoming a part of the CNS team she went to her supervisor and made the case that her participation in LO would be great for leadership development, community outreach and networking. When asked did LO live up to those expectations she says, "LO surpassed all my expectations and was one of the highlights in my career development".

During Malkia's Cornerstone year, she gave and gained...and her classmates gave and gained as well. She was able to broaden their perspectives and encourage people to be compassionate and empathetic about people with mental and physical challenges of all kinds.

Malkia also noted that her participation in the Cornerstone program gave her a different perspective of Oakland County in all of its rich diversity. She also enjoyed opportunities to get up close and personal with county leaders like L. Brooks Patterson.

We are happy to have her as an active alumnus of our Cornerstone program. LO made such an impact on her life that it was noticed by her husband Dubrae -he went on to complete the program the following year! We're glad to have them both as successful alumni using the tools that they learned to make a difference in their community.