Corey B. Best is foremost, a dedicated father, and the founder of Mining For Gold. He is originally from Washington, DC and now resides in Florida. This is where Corey began his transformation into adaptive leadership training, systems building, authentic family engagement, racial justice, promoting protective factors, and highlighting “good enough parenting” for those impacted by the child welfare system. Mining For Gold is the curator of community experiences and utilizes those ideas and expertise to shape new thinking within complex systems. Corey has utilized his platform as a Community Curator to re-build child and family serving systems that are responsive to sharing power among constituents with a laser focus on preventing and dismantling all forms of racism. The idea began with the fact that each one of us have pieces of metaphorical “gold” flowing through our souls. 

This idea for Mining For Gold is directly influenced by the 403 plus years of racialized arrangement in our communities. The Mining For Gold movement of longing for justice, liberation, and belonging is rooted in thinking culturally, not strategically. In partnership with child welfare leaders, communities and parents, Corey has curated the racially just and equitable Authentic Family Engagement and Strengthening Approach (AFES). Since May 2020, Mining For Gold has held a brave container to explore the impact of racialization with over 1,500 child and family serving leaders and staff. Corey was awarded the 2021 Champion for Children’s Award in Advancing Equity and the 2022 Outstanding Service in the Advancement of Cultural Competency in Child Maltreatment Prevention and Intervention award. Mining For Gold is a platform where leaders from social institutions think, stretch, and grow alongside other leaders within their communities who have experienced systems of oppression first-hand. The design is to curate and magnify what is working within collective spheres of influences.