Many of the men and women advancing meaningful change all over the South were children or teenagers when Martin Luther King delivered his How Long? Not Long speech in Montgomery, Alabama, 50 years ago this week. On March 25, 1965, they might’ve watched...
An experienced community organizer and trainer, Ivan Kohar Parra cofounded three organizations that engage hundreds of grassroots leaders in social change. He is cofounder of the Latino Credit Union, a member-owned non-profit financial institution offering a full package of ethical, bilingual financial services, affordable credit options and financial education to thousands of immigrants....
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...
Martin Eakes is co-founder and CEO of Self Help Credit Union and the Center for Responsible Lending. He holds a law degree from Yale, a master's from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton, and a bachelor's degree from Davidson College. A native of North Carolina, Eakes is a nationally recognized expert on...
Pope Francis is making his first-ever visit to the United States this week, greeted by screaming crowds in Washington, New York City and Philadelphia. Unlike most dignitaries, he’s not only visiting the White House, Capitol Hill and the United Nations, but also a mostly immigrant school in a low-wealth neighborhood, a homeless shelter and a prison.
Dubbed “the People’s Pope,” Francis...
Jacqueline Carroll Jones has more than 20 years of organizing experience with the Jeremiah Group and the Industrial Areas Foundation. Before becoming an organizer, Jones taught regular and special education classes in the Jefferson Parish public school system for 23 years. She also served as Intervention Coordinator for the parish’s only special education alternative high school program....
