Stories

Environment/Energy

  • Justin Maxson: Why Appalachia Matters

    From 2002 to 2015, Justin Maxson served as President of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development in Kentucky, where he supported and generated innovative development strategies, including small enterprise lending and technical assistance solutions, energy efficiency support strategies and targeted research and policy efforts aimed at creating benefits for low-to-moderate...

  • Daa'iyah Salaam: Opportunity in the South

    For five years, Daa’iyah Salaam served as Business Development Specialist for the Southwest Georgia Project, an organization founded in 1961 to educate, engage and empower through advocacy and community organizing. The organization has successfully addressed school segregation, welfare rights, voter rights and education, housing, land loss, economic development and unfair policies affecting...

  • Maureen O'Connell: How SOCM Started

    Maureen O’Connell worked at SOCM for 35 years, 16 as Executive Director. During her tenure, SOCM expanded from a five-county grassroots community organization focused on coal (Save Our Cumberland Mountains) to a statewide organization working on a host of local, statewide, regional, and national issues of environmental, social and economic justice (Statewide Organizing for Community...

    Maureen O'Connell
  • John Littles: Formation and Focus of McIntosh SEED

    Since 2000, John Littles has been Executive Director of McIntosh SEED (Sustainable Environment and Economic Development), a grassroots organization that fosters quality education, housing, recreational facilities, business opportunities and environmental protection for McIntosh County, Georgia, through community development, organizing and advocacy.

    Littles provides technical...

  • Cheryl Peterson: Land is an Asset

    As Senior Managing Director of McIntosh SEED (Sustainable Environment and Economic Development), Cheryl Peterson provides technical assistance to organizations in youth leadership and development, community outreach and engagement, local and regional organizational development, and educational supervision and instruction. McIntosh SEED is a grassroots organization that fosters quality...