Rooted in Purpose: How Tre’Dessa Smalls Is Shaping Greenville’s Future

Tre’Dessa Smalls comes from a family of servant leaders. Raised in Burgess, South Carolina, a small town just 15 minutes outside Myrtle Beach, Tre’Dessa has never shied away from the issues others overlook: affordable housing, mental health equity and the lasting effects of parental incarceration on children. Today, she channels that passion into tangible, community-driven change in Greenville, South Carolina.

Finding Her Path: Furman, Greenville and a Calling Rooted in Justice

After Tre’Dessa earned a bachelor’s degree in politics and international affairs with a minor in Africana studies from Furman University, she decided to make Greenville her home. She found herself drawn to social justice work but reluctant to leave the community she had grown to love. When she discovered Furman’s Master of Arts in Advocacy and Social Policy (MAP) program, it felt like the right next step. She joined its very first cohort.

“I knew that I received a great educational experience in my undergrad,” said Tre’Dessa, “so I knew that I was going to be in a for a treat during the MAP program.”

Going back to school after four years away was nerve-wracking. But the faculty quickly put those concerns to rest. Her professors cared about more than just grades. They wanted students to learn deeply, grow confidently and carry that knowledge back into the world.

“We had professors who not only teach about it, but they live it,” Tre’Dessa recalled.

That distinction mattered. The MAP program equipped her with the framework and confidence to not just participate in community work, but to lead it.

“If I didn’t have that groundwork from my master’s program,” she said, “I don’t think that I would have the confidence to walk into these situations and not only be a leader, but to be an equitable leader.”

The cohort experience proved just as formative as the coursework. Her classmates became an “academic family,” supporting one another through the demands of graduate school while working full-time jobs. At their hooding ceremony, Tre’Dessa delivered a message the cohort wrote together.

“To me, they really did feel like my academic family, and that was so special to me,” she said. “I just don’t think you get that everywhere.”

For her thesis, Tre’Dessa turned to the community she knew best. Through oral histories with Greenville’s District 25 residents, she captured both the neighborhood’s history and its aspirations for the future. A weekly Thesis in Action course made the process feel less daunting. It gave students tools for rigorous qualitative research and a built-in community to do it alongside. That project has since grown beyond academia as she is now writing a history book for District 25, a direct outgrowth of the work she began in graduate school.

Making it Look Like the Community: The Citizens Planning Academy

That academic foundation translated directly into her professional work. At Upstate Forever, an environmentally focused nonprofit, Tre’Dessa works as a land policy grassroots specialist, traveling around the region to bring advocacy training directly to communities, with the Citizens Planning Academy (CPA) at the center of that work.

The CPA is a six-week program in which Greenville County residents apply to learn about land planning and policy, land uses, zoning basics, multi-modal transportation and the role that everyday citizens play in shaping their community’s future. Each cohort includes 30 Greenville County residents.

Her MAP practicum became the vehicle for reimagining the CPA from the ground up. When Tre’Dessa took over the CPA, she had one clear priority: make the program look more like the community it was meant to serve. She was able to make a substantial impact. In 2022, before she assumed leadership of the CPA, 83% of participants were white and most were over the age of 65. After Tre’Dessa redesigned the program, the demographics shifted significantly to better represent the community they came from. White participants now represent 52%, African American participation rose to 25%, Asian or Pacific Islander to 7% and Native to 4%. Participants ages 25 to 44 increased as well. For the first time, participants came from all county council districts.

“I’m being so intentional about the communities I’m going to speak to about applying to this program,” Tre’Dessa explained.

The CPA has had an impact in the community. When Greenville County was working to pass its Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), a CPA graduate spoke in support of it, crediting the Academy with giving her the courage to step up. Other graduates now serve on county boards and commissions. The CPA gave them the knowledge, relationships and confidence to speak out on issues that are important to them.

What’s Next: A Dissertation, a District and a Bigger Vision

Tre’Dessa is not showing signs of slowing down. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in education in professional leadership at Converse University, with a dissertation focused on how parental incarceration follows adult children into the workforce, shaping their mental, emotional and financial wellbeing long after childhood ends.

In addition to her doctoral work, she volunteers as a career and college readiness coordinator with Beauty Marks for Girls, an organization serving young women whose mothers are incarcerated. She also sits on the boards of the Upstate Circle of Friends, one of the most prominent community hubs in District 25, and the Neighborhood Historic Preservation Advocates Board.

Through all of it, her focal point remains the same: being a beacon in her community, including making sure District 25 is represented. When the time is right, she has one more goal in mind: a seat on the County Council.

Some people are shaped by where they come from. Tre’Dessa Smalls is proof that the right roots can grow something extraordinary.