In Missouri, there lives an unassuming, loving and devoted mom of two. She works from home, cares for her kids, frequents Facebook, and enjoys spending time with family and friends. But there is absolutely nothing average about this woman to me. To me, Dionna Ford of Code Name: Mama is a huge inspiration and a dear friend – even though I have never met her in person, and only spoken to her once face to face.

She’s constantly reaching out to others to improve their understanding, education, and empowerment – and she’s been a dear friend and irreplaceable part of my life’s journey, asking nothing in return, but giving so much by way of encouragement, empowerment, and confidence.

The Gift of Confidence

Dionna is a co-founder of Natural Parents Network and Nursing Freedom, websites that encourage and educate about natural parenting and feeding children healthfully, with love and respect. When Dionna asked me to be a contributing writer to Natural Parent’s Network, I was so flattered.

I had no idea that my work was important or that my writing was. . . any good. But Dionna thought differently. She believed in my ability to bring a genuine and interesting voice to NPN. And she encouraged me to write on topics that were important to me.

Her confidence was a huge gift.

I had been thinking of myself as “just another mom with a blog” and wondering if I would ever be influential enough to help others with my thoughts.

I had been dreaming of going back to school and achieving my professional dreams. . . but I lacked the self-confidence and bravery to take that step. Dionna changed that. She empowered me to believe that I could succeed as a mother, a student, and even as a creative entrepreneur at the same time.

Every time that I log in to write for Natural Parents Network, I feel a sense of pride and a great sense of strength. Dionna’s confidence in me inspired a great confidence in myself, and allowed me to pursue education and explore and use my love for writing and creating for the family with bravery and passion.

Vote for Dionna!

I am nominating Dionna for the Yahoo! Shine Women Who Shine Program. Please click over and VOTE for Dionna on the Yahoo! Shine Women Who Shine webpage, where you can also nominate a lady who shines brightly in YOUR life for the $10,000 cash prize and the honor of being named Yahoo! Shine’s first Woman Who Shines winner.

You will need to sign in to YahooShine, but you can do so easily through a Facebook account or Twitter account. You can vote for Dionna once per day, so sign in and vote as often as you can!

Women Who Shine is Yahoo! Shine’s inaugural women’s recognition program. Nominate your peers, mentors, family and any other women in your community who inspire you and others with their extraordinary achievements.  This program stands apart because the honorees are not the high-profile women or celebs you see in most other “Woman of the Year” or “Most Powerful Women” programs.  It’s women nominating the local heroes in their communities and it is Shine’s readers, not an editorial staff, who decide who wins.

Why She Shines

Natural Parents Network is a fantastic resource for caregivers to learn about different ways to understand, deepen your respect for, and find creative ideas for children – birth through adolescence. With a range of volunteer authors and Natural Parenting Mentors available, Dionna and Lauren have created a jewel of a parenting website – an authentic, loving, and accepting complement to more mainstream sites.

But Dionna’s sparkle goes deeper than the websites she has given to the world.

Her unassuming presence puts you at ease, and compassion is at the root of her relationships with others. She’s taken a great deal of time exploring her own experiences and improving her understanding of both non-violent communication and online journalism in order to lift up applicable information and resources to others in the best way.

Her bravery and eloquence shone when she posed for Time Magazine’s extended breast-feeding photo shoot, and then responded with a balance of passion and respect, expressing with gracefulness and tact her distaste for the publishers choice to sensationalize the shoot and fuel the “mommy-wars” with their inauthentic headline “Are You Mom Enough?”

She’s handled motherhood, creative work, writing, founding websites, advocacy, and even the national spotlight with grace, dedication, and courtesy. But no matter her success or the number of times she’s in the spotlight or published online or in print – remains and true and loyal friend.

This is why she shines, and why she should be celebrated!

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“I was compensated for this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.”