The Brooklyn-born entrepreneur and founder of Foster with Love Inc. is proving that a hard beginning doesn’t have to write the ending.
Dr. Sheila Renee Goodwin was born in Brooklyn and raised in kinship care after her parents struggled with substance abuse. It’s the kind of childhood that could easily become a limitation. Goodwin turned it into something else entirely: the foundation for a career, a company, and a mission that now touches thousands of children across Georgia and beyond.
“Growing up in the foster care system gave me firsthand experience with the challenges, uncertainty, and lack of support that many children face,” Goodwin said. “Rather than allowing those circumstances to define me, I used them as motivation to create a better future for myself and for others.”
That motivation became Foster with Love Inc., a Georgia-based nonprofit Goodwin founded to support foster children, youth aging out of the system, and the families who care for them. The organization is built on three pillars: mentorship, education, and community resources, anchored by a simple conviction: a child’s past should never determine their future.
“I didn’t just survive those circumstances; I overcame them.”
A Career Built On Reinvention
Long before launching her nonprofit, Goodwin had already built a reputation as someone who could do a little bit of everything, and do it well. For more than 25 years, she has owned and operated Sheila’s Tax Service, helping individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations navigate complicated financial terrain and build lasting stability.
Her résumé doesn’t stop there. Goodwin has held leadership roles in property management, childcare administration, culinary arts, and event production, including work on BET’s Wild ‘N Out and other major entertainment and food events. She holds associate degrees in Culinary Arts and Hotel-Restaurant-Tourism Management, along with certifications as a business coach, licensed claims adjuster, travel agent, chef, and notary public, credentials that reflect both her range and her drive.
That body of work has earned national recognition, including a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award and an honorary Doctorate in Business Philosophy. But ask Goodwin what she’s most proud of, and the conversation turns quickly, and firmly, back to the children.
“I Didn’t Just Survive Those Circumstances, I Overcame Them”
What sets Goodwin’s work apart in a crowded nonprofit space, she says, isn’t research or theory. It’s lived experience.
“I know firsthand what it feels like to grow up in foster care, face the instability of parents struggling with drug addiction, and wonder whether anyone truly sees your potential,” she said. “Those experiences could have defined my future; instead, they became the foundation of my purpose. I didn’t just survive those circumstances; I overcame them.”
That authenticity, Goodwin says, is what lets her connect with the children and families she serves. When she mentors a teenager aging out of the system, or speaks to a room of caseworkers and educators, she isn’t offering theory from the outside looking in. She’s speaking as someone who has walked the same path.
“What makes my message different is that I don’t focus on where a child has been; I focus on where they can go,” she said. “I believe every child deserves to be loved, supported, and equipped to become a leader, regardless of their past.”
Building “Tomorrow’s Leaders”
Foster with Love Inc. is preparing to expand its reach with the upcoming Tomorrow’s Leaders program, an initiative designed to mentor children and build leadership skills, confidence, and character. It’s a natural next step for a founder who has spent her career building things: businesses, careers, and now futures for young people who need someone in their corner.
Goodwin is hoping to grow a network of partners, donors, volunteers, schools, businesses, and community organizations who share her vision of empowering children and strengthening the families around them. Her audience spans community leaders, educators, foster and adoptive families, child welfare professionals, corporate sponsors, and policymakers, as well as adults who experienced foster care themselves and are looking for proof that their past doesn’t have to define their future.
“My journey is proof that your beginning does not determine your destination,” Goodwin said. “Every obstacle I faced has strengthened my commitment to helping others rewrite their own stories. My life is a testimony that resilience, faith, and the support of a caring community can transform pain into purpose and create lasting generational impact.”
A mother, grandmother, mentor, and community leader, Goodwin continues to build Foster with Love Inc. into what she describes not just as a nonprofit, but a movement: one dedicated to breaking cycles of adversity and giving every child the stability, love, and opportunity she once needed herself.
Learn more about Dr. Sheila Renee Goodwin and Foster with Love Inc. at fosterwithloveinc.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
