Today is the 45 th Earth Day, an annual reminder of our solemn responsibility to protect the environment and an opportunity to examine the ways in which we interact with the planet. Rapid changes, however, are threatening the lives of millions of Americans who rely on the land for their livelihoods, and the South is bearing the brunt. The region experiences more intense hurricanes, drought,...
Stephanie Tyree has served as Director of Community Engagement and Policy at the Hub since November 2012. The statewide non-profit organization’s mission is to engage communities and providers in an intentional, aligned and continuous system of community development. Before joining the Hub, Tyree worked as a community organizer and state policy coordinator in the southern West Virginia...
All over the American South, civic-minded people are working to improve communities by building coalitions and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The recent commemorations on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, honored the sacrifices of those who marched 50 years ago and the gains they brought to bear on our society. Many of those brave foot...
On January 9, 2014, 300,000 people in and around Charleston, West Virginia, woke up to a licorice-like odor emanating from their tap water. Thousands of gallons of coal-processing chemicals had spilled into the Elk River, plunging nine counties into a state of emergency. Health officials issued warnings against drinking, cooking with or bathing in the water.
Government leaders were...
Bill Kopsky became Executive Director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel in 1999. The Panel helps Arkansans improve their communities and develop policy solutions by taking collective action and building coalitions. In 1998, it organized the Arkansas Citizens First Congress, a coalition of 58 community organizations advocating for progressive policy change in Arkansas. The organizations...
