School choice wasn’t always a top priority for South Carolina lawmakers. That changed early this year when the Palmetto Promise Institute shared the story of Lila Mozingo, an eight-year-old with Down Syndrome. Lila wasn’t doing well in public school, so her parents moved her to a private school that better fit her unique needs. Since then, they have seen an incredible difference in Lila’s learning.

While her parents could afford to send Lila to private school, not all parents are so fortunate. Lila’s parents noted Education Scholarship Account (ESAs) could help children like Lila get the education they need and deserve. After hearing Lila’s story, lawmakers had a better understanding of who school choice helps and why it’s needed in the Palmetto State.

SPN: Tell us about Lila’s story.

Palmetto Promise Institute: Mark and Padgett Mozingo have been consistently told what their daughter Lila cannot do because she has Down Syndrome. In spite of this, they have long known that she is merely a “beautiful, vivacious, eight-year-old girl, who just happens to have Down Syndrome,” and who is capable of great things. Part of their journey in supporting Lila has revolved around finding the best education to help her reach her limitless potential. Because public schools could not meet Lila’s needs, the Mozingos decided that private school was the better path, and since moving her to a private school they have noticed a remarkable difference in her learning and enjoyment of school.

While Mark and Padgett work hard to be able to afford private school tuition for Lila, it is always a challenge, and they know it’s not an option for many families. In fact, Lila even has her own business baking bread, to help cover her school tuition. The Mozingos have championed Educational Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), a program that the Palmetto Promise Institute has also long called for, that would empower parents by giving them the choice of the best school for their child’s needs.

SPN: How did you find the story and share it with your audience?

Palmetto Promise Institute: Our president, Ellen Weaver, was first introduced to Padgett Mozingo by a board member of South Carolina’s tax credit scholarship for children with special needs. Padgett had a professional background in communications and a long history of special needs advocacy, she just didn’t know where to share this story. The 30-minute introduction meeting turned into two hours as Padgett shared her family’s journey and struggles with Ellen.

Over the following months we built on the foundation laid out in that meeting by staying in touch with Padgett and offering timely resources and information on ESAs and what they could mean for children like Lila. Thanks to the growing relationship and trust between us and the Mozingos, Padgett trusted us to share Lila’s story in the fall of 2019. We captured the story in a powerful video, and went about promoting it through social media.

SPN: Who was your audience and why?

Palmetto Promise Institute: When we went to share the story of Limitless Lila, we primarily wanted to reach lawmakers and statehouse staff. We geo-targeted the blocks around the statehouse when promoting our video on Facebook. School choice efforts face a host of misinformation and misconceptions, so even for lawmakers interested in helping it was always a low priority. We knew that by putting this story in front of them, they would have a deeper connection to the impact that school choice could offer and more understanding of the urgency for action.

SPN: How did your storytelling influence the policy discussion? How did it affect your brand?

Palmetto Promise Institute: Lila’s powerful story has helped dispel many misconceptions on education choice, most notably that an ESA bill only benefits the “elite” and not children in need. Our success helped build momentum with skeptical Democratic lawmakers as the ESA bill picked up legislative steam in the Senate early in 2020.

For their efforts to dispel misconceptions around ESAs and similar programs, and for their work to ensure that lawmakers knew just who their decisions were affecting, the Palmetto Promise Institute was recognized as a finalist for the 2020 SPN Communications Excellence Awards, in the Powerful Storytelling category.