Ralph Paige served the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund for more than 30 years, 15 as Executive Director. The Federation improves the quality of rural life through housing, community credit unions, cooperatives and training programs. It helps small farmers access the full range of USDA programs and keeps thousands of landowners informed of their rights and...
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, protecting communities from landfills and...
The South’s population is booming, increasing its influence on the rest of the country. The region holds a third of the Electoral College votes needed to take the White House, and it’s expected to gain five more after the 2020 Census. Thanks to immigration and reversal of the Great Migration, the region is becoming ever more diverse and its urban centers are growing. This evolution of the...
Sophia Bracy Harris is Executive Director of the Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama (FOCAL) and Alabama Director of the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Economic and Social Justice (SRBWI). Her lifelong dedication to improving educational opportunities for children and their families has been recognized with the Rockefeller Public Service Award, Gleitsman Foundation “People...
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.
After decades of...
