Stories

Democracy/Civic Engagement

  • Hollis Watkins: Founding of Southern Echo

    A veteran of the civil rights movement, Hollis Watkins founded Southern Echo, a leadership development, education and training organization working to develop effective, accountable grassroots leadership in rural Mississippi and the surrounding region.

    Watkins and Southern Echo have been instrumental in challenging redistricting in Mississippi,...

  • Scott Douglas: Founding of Greater Birmingham Ministries

    Before joining the staff of Greater Birmingham Ministries, Douglas served as Environmental Justice Organizer for the Sierra Club Southeast, Executive Director of the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice and Southern Field Representative for the Partnership for Democracy Foundation. Douglas serves on the boards of AIDS Alabama, the Alabama Poverty Project, the Gulf...

  • Shirley Sherrod: Early Involvement and Personal History

    Shirley and Charles Sherrod founded the Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education in 1961 to educate, engage and empower through advocacy and community organizing. SWGAP has successfully addressed school segregation, welfare rights, voter rights and education, housing, land loss, economic development and unfair policies affecting school children and families....

  • A Battleground for Humanity and Dignity

    On the occasion of the 50 th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Grantmakers for Southern Progress convened a funders’ delegation to learn about a diverse coalition of groups supporting structural change in Alabama today. At the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, the funders heard from representatives of a robust network of statewide organizations working...