Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Windham.
Margaret, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m Margaret Reid Windham, and today I have the privilege of serving as the Executive Director of Café Momentum Dallas and Senior Vice President of Location Success for Café Momentum—but my path here has been shaped by a lifelong commitment to service, community, and creating opportunities for others.
I began my career in public service, spending more than seven years in Washington, D.C., working in the George W. Bush White House. I started as a scheduler to President Bush, then transitioned to the G8 Summit Planning Organization to manage Mrs. Bush’s spousal program and later served as a Policy Analyst in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Those years taught me how to operate with clarity under pressure, how to lead with purpose, and—most importantly—how policy and peoples lived experiences must stay connected.
When I returned home to Texas, I shifted my focus from national policy to community impact. I held leadership roles at Northern Trust, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, and the George W. Bush Presidential Center—always gravitating toward work that aligned resources, people, and mission to create meaningful change.
In 2016, I joined Café Momentum, and from the moment I walked through the door, I knew I had found the work I was meant to do. Over the past seven years, I’ve served in roles spanning operations, development, and now organizational leadership. Each step has deepened my belief in the brilliance and potential of the justice-involved youth we serve. Today, I oversee both the Dallas flagship Café Momentum and support our broader efforts to train and support Executive Directors as we expand the Momentum model nationally.
My journey has taken me from the White House to East Dallas, from global summits to a restaurant where young people discover their worth, their strengths, and their future. And every chapter—every experience—has prepared me for the honor of doing this work: building a community where our youth are seen, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive.
Every day I feel grateful that my career has brought me to a place where purpose and impact meet so clearly.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The short answer is no—it hasn’t been a smooth road. And honestly, I don’t think this work is meant to be smooth. It’s meant to be real, human, and deeply challenging.
Some of the hardest moments come from confronting the reality of how our kids live long before they ever reach our doors. You start to understand very quickly that they aren’t just navigating adolescence—they’re navigating trauma, instability, poverty, and a justice system that, in many ways, is structured for their failure rather than their success. Walking alongside them means seeing those truths up close, and that can be heartbreaking.
We also face struggles that no one ever wants to experience. We’ve lost kids to gun violence. We’ve watched brilliant, promising young people get pulled back into environments that are unsafe or unsupportive. Those moments stay with you. They sit heavy on your heart. And they remind you—every single day—why this work matters so profoundly.
But even with the challenges, there is beauty. There is resilience. There is joy. And there is a constant reminder that every struggle we face is another push toward creating the world our young people deserve.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At Café Momentum, I lead our Dallas flagship and help our national efforts to support new Executive Directors as we expand the Momentum model across the country. My work centers on building strong teams, strengthening systems, and creating environments where justice-involved youth can thrive.
I’m known for connecting mission to operations, turning big ideas into real, sustainable impact and for cultivating a culture rooted in dignity, accountability, and possibility.
What I’m most proud of is our youth. Watching them discover their strengths, transform their futures, and realize they are capable of so much more than the world has told them is the greatest reward of my career.
What sets me apart is the blend of experiences I bring, from public service to philanthropy to nonprofit leadership—and the unwavering belief that every young person deserves opportunity, support, and a community that refuses to give up on them.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is creating pathways of opportunity for young people who have been overlooked, underestimated, or written off. I believe deeply that every child deserves to feel seen, supported, and capable of building a future filled with promise.
This matters to me because I’ve witnessed firsthand how transformative it is when a young person realizes they are more than the circumstances they were born into or the mistakes they’ve made. When they finally experience stability, dignity, and someone who believes in them, everything shifts—their confidence, their choices, and their vision for what’s possible.
At the end of the day, what matters most is ensuring our youth know they have value, they belong, and their dreams are worth fighting for. That belief guides every decision I make and every part of the work I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cafemomentum.org/dallas
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/cafemomentumdal
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/cafemomentum.dal
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/cafemomentumdal
