March 21, 2023 Friends Austin Honors 2022 MVP Staff Abbey Johnson and Changa Cooper named Friends Austin's MVPs Friends of the Children-Austin is proud to award Abbey Johnson and Changa Cooper with their 2022 MVP Awards. The MVP award is given to employees who go above and beyond, displaying strong examples of the Friends of the Children Core Values in their work. Employees across the entire Austin staff are nominated by their coworkers, and then a team of judges from the Executive Advisory Board review the nominations and make their selection. This year was too close to call, so Friends Austin is proud to award these two very deserving candidates. Abbey Johnson was no stranger to Friends ATX when she joined the team in 2021. She started as an intern in 2019 while working on her Masters degree when she wrote a paper on leadership development. This spearheaded a new move toward offering leadership enhancement opportunities for the staff. Serving behind the scenes as our People and Operations Coordinator, she is now a part of the Leadership Development Committee that was birthed from her paper. Abbey juggles a multitude of administrative tasks and brings fun and creativity to the kids & teen clubhouses. Her genuine love for our youth motivates her to have a never-say-never spirit. Friend, Changa Cooper has been with Friends ATX for one year and during that time he has brought his infectious happiness to not only his youth, but our entire staff. With his background in coaching he is able to help his youth uncover their hidden strengths and build community within his cohort all while giving them the chance to think critically about their own interactions. Along with his endearing personal energy, he has great cooking skills and is a whiz with creating engaging video content for our team.