Stories

Mar 06 2024

Introducing our new People and Culture Officer

The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation are pleased to introduce our new people and culture officer. Ashelee Barber (she/her) brings a wealth of experience from a wide range of organizations, fostering inclusive environments and nurturing talent. Most recently, she served as senior manager of people and culture at Fair Fight Action for four years. She led the organization through a cultural transformation, changing the function, structure, and impact of human resources across the organization through new programs, policies, processes and systems.

“I am honored to join MRBF as the first people and culture officer and look forward to partnering with our talented team to cultivate an organizational culture where our staff feels valued, supported and empowered to contribute their best,” Ashelee said. “With a deep passion for this work, I am excited to embark on this journey of learning, growth and transformation, where our shared values and commitment to social and economic justice are mirrored in the way we connect, support and uplift one another within the Foundation.”

This is a brand-new position for the Foundation. In this role, Ashelee will help foster a strong, joyful culture steeped in racial equity and aligned with MRBF’s values. She will help staff take good care of themselves and each other, thereby deepening MRBF’s impact across the American South.

Ashelee holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Georgia State University and relevant HR certifications. She enjoys singing, reading, relaxing on the beach and spending time with her daughter.

Feb 24 2023

Introducing our Impact Investment Officer

The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation are pleased to announce Julius E. Kimbrough Jr. will serve as the Foundation’s first impact investment officer.

Kimbrough comes to MRBF from Stonehenge Capital, where he managed the federal New Markets Tax Credit program and helped source other economic development finance opportunities. Before joining Stonehenge, Kimbrough served as executive director of a community land trust, pioneering affordable residential and commercial real estate solutions across New Orleans. He also headed Liberty Bank and Trust Company’s community development unit, which helped families finance affordable homes, and provided capital to small businesses and agencies nationally. Kimbrough also has served as a foundation program officer, urban planner, economic analyst and investment banker.

“I am super excited to serve as the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation’s first impact investment officer. Given their faith in me, together we will explore the intersection of American democracy and economic opportunity to leverage more equitable and bountiful outcomes on behalf of all Southerners, especially Black and brown families and communities seeking to overcome underinvestment.”

The creation of this position is the latest step in MRBF’s evolution in investing in ways that advance its mission, vision and values. Since 2014, MRBF has implemented environmental, social and governance best practices across its portfolio. In 2020, the Foundation embarked on a process to center racial equity in every aspect of its work, including investment strategies. Kimbrough will work with the Foundation’s investment committee, board and staff colleagues to continue to reimagine, develop and drive innovative strategies to use capital and markets to build power and advance racial justice across the South.

Kimbrough holds a degree in history from Hampton University and master’s degrees in both business administration and public policy from the University of Chicago.

Jan 30 2025

Welcoming our New Directors

The board and staff of the Babcock Foundation are delighted to welcome four new directors to help deepen our impact across the South in the coming years. The approved directors will join the board of directors January 1, 2025:

Helen Butler (she/her) serves as Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, a non-profit, non-partisan organization comprised of representatives from the human rights, civil rights, environmental, labor, women, young professionals, youth, elected officials, peace and justice groups throughout the State of Georgia and other southeastern states, founded by the late Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, that advocates for voting rights and justice issues. She joined the Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda in 2003 as the State Director and was able to increase the membership of the organization to over sixty statewide and local organizations as well as, promote collaborative issue campaign organizing activities throughout Georgia, nationally and in the southeastern region. In keeping with the People’s Agenda commitment to quality education, criminal, and juvenile justice reform, protecting the right to vote, economic justice and development, and other social justice issues, she has formed strategic alliances to improve quality of life for underserved communities.

Nayely Perez-Huerta (she/ella) is a Mexican immigrant who has called the South home for the past 24 years. Her work has focused on developing and strengthening immigrant leadership and building grassroots power in the Southeast, with a strong emphasis on centering the voices and experiences of those most impacted by systemic injustice.

Dr. Karida Brown (she/her) is a sociologist, professor, oral historian, and public intellectual whose research centers on the fullness of Black life. A proud graduate of Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown University, she currently teaches sociology at Emory University. She has authored six books, including The Sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois and the award-winning The New Brownies’ Book: A Love Letter to Black Families. Her upcoming book, Battle for the Black Mind is forthcoming Spring 2025 with Legacy Lit by Hachette Book Group.

Austin Thompson (he/him) is the Founder and CEO of Community Dynamix (CDX), a consultancy and technology services provider dedicated to equipping nonprofits and place-based coalitions with data-driven solutions that strengthen communities and help redefine the economic trajectory of underserved regions. Originally from Alpharetta, Georgia, and deeply committed to equity and sustainability in the South, Austin believes in the transformative power of technology to radically accelerate human potential, dismantle systemic barriers, and engineer a future where community-centered innovation drives lasting change. Austin brings extensive experience in philanthropy, technology, and social change, combining visionary leadership with hands-on expertise. His commitment to using technology to drive economic equity aligns seamlessly with the mission of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.

While we are thrilled with our new directors, this announcement is bittersweet, as the Foundation is also bidding farewell to two directors who went above and beyond in their extraordinary commitment to the Foundation and the South.

Chad Berry (he/him) came to the office of the Academic Vice President and Dean of the Faculty after serving five years as Director of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center and also serving one year as Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning through Service. Prior to coming to Berea in 2006, he was a member of the faculty at Maryville College. He is the author of Southern Migrants, Northern Exiles, published by the University of Illinois Press, which examines the migration of millions of white southerners to the Midwest during the twentieth century. The book was inspired by his paternal grandparents, who reluctantly left Tennessee in the 1940s, going first to Akron, Ohio, and ultimately settling in Mishawaka, Indiana, where they found jobs and the economic opportunity that had eluded them in the South. He is the editor of and a contributor to The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance (Illinois, 2008), an important radio program from Chicago that was instrumental in the development of country music. He is published widely in the area of Appalachian studies and international education.

Jerry Gonzalez (he/him) is the founding and current Executive Director of Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) and the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund. GALEO was founded in 2003 and is a 501 (c) (6) statewide nonprofit and non- partisan organization; its mission is to increase civic engagement and leadership development of the Latino/Hispanic community across Georgia. The GALEO Latino Community Development Fund is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization affiliated with GALEO. Due to his efforts at GALEO, Mr. Gonzalez has been recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of Georgia’s 100 Most Influential Georgians for several of years, along with many other honors and awards.

Both Chad and Jerry joined the board in 2014, served three consecutive terms and then graciously agreed to serve two extensions to provide stability as the Foundation grappled with COVID, racial reckonings across the South and internal leadership transitions. Under their leadership, the Foundation has made nearly a thousand grants, totaling more than 121 million dollars to organizations advancing justice in the American South. Much of the Foundation’s considerable evolution over the past 11 years is attributable to Chad and Jerry, as they helped guide us through multiple strategic shifts, and were strong voices steering the Foundation toward our commitments to building power to advance racial equity.

Please join us in expressing our deep gratitude to Chad and Jerry, and in warmly welcoming our new directors, whose terms begin January first.

Nov 25 2024

Introducing our new Associate Network Officer

The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation are pleased to introduce our new Associate Network Officer. Velvet Scott (she/her) brings a wealth of expertise in strategic planning, program management, and community engagement. Her impressive career includes leadership roles such as Director of Civic Engagement & Voting Rights at the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable and Managing Director at Mississippi Votes.

A proud member of the National Council of Negro Women, Attala County Section, Velvet is deeply committed to empowering women and advancing social justice. As a wife and mother, her passion for equity is rooted in her vision of creating a more inclusive and just world for future generations.

Velvet holds a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience & Cognitive Studies from Millsaps College and has been recognized as a 2021 Mississippi Black Leadership Institute Fellow and a 2022 EMILY’s List Ignite Change Fellow. She’s eager to dive in and help advance MRBF’s mission and create meaningful change across the South.

In this role, Velvet will work closely with the network officers, grants manager and others to support grantmaking processes, and evaluate the impacts of MRBF’s programs, grants, investments, and related activities.

Dec 05 2023

Welcome our New Directors!

The board and staff of the Babcock Foundation are delighted to welcome four new directors to help deepen our impact across the South in the coming years.

Tamieka Atkins (she/her) serves as Executive Director of ProGeorgia, a non-partisan voter engagement advocacy organization in the State Voices national network. ProGeorgia provides funding, resources, and training for more than 60 organizations committed to advancing civic engagement in Georgia. As a longtime grantee partner, the Babcock team is deeply familiar with Tamieka’s brilliance in building coalitions among groups that have been historically sidelined in the South.

Dr. Keecha Harris

Dr. Keecha Harris (she/her) is President and CEO of Keecha Harris and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in environmental, reproductive, economic mobility and leadership development projects. The firm has a long track record of working with philanthropic organizations to advance racial equity and social justice. Keecha also hosts a podcast about racial equity and change management from Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr. Tim Lampkin

Dr. Tim Lampkin (he/him) is the award-winning Founder and CEO of Higher Purpose, an economic justice nonprofit serving Black entrepreneurs, artists and farmers across Mississippi through asset building, advocacy and narrative change. With more than a decade of experience in entrepreneurship and community development, Tim brings critical expertise to our work to build economic power for communities whose needs have long gone unaddressed.

Will Vandenberg (he/him) is an award-winning activist, advocate and funder whose long-time work as a nonprofit director in Colorado built diverse coalitions that grew community-based power, expanded nonpartisan voter participation, developed dynamic new leaders, and led to numerous racial and economic equity victories. After serving for 12 years as a senior U.S. leader for the Open Society Foundations, Will co-founded a national pro-democracy incubator that supports state-based innovation and investment in several challenging contexts.

“These four leaders have the experience, expertise and – perhaps most importantly – the courage to help the Foundation strengthen our commitments to power building and racial equity,” said MRBF CEO Flozell Daniels Jr. “At this critical moment for our beloved South, we are incredibly fortunate to bring their hearts and minds to bear in our work to advance justice and joy.”

While we are thrilled with our new directors, this announcement is bittersweet, as the Foundation is also bidding farewell to three directors who went above and beyond in their extraordinary commitment to the Foundation and the South.

LaVeeda Battle

LaVeeda Morgan Battle (she/her) is a trailblazing veteran attorney who founded Battle Law Firm near Birmingham, Alabama. In a career spanning more than three decades, she has served the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state and federal government, even advising three American presidents. During her time at the Foundation, she has served on two committees, chairing one of them for seven years.

Dr. James Mitchell (he/him) is President of Wallace Community College in Selma, Alabama. In his two decades-plus at the helm, he has revolutionized Wallace into a state-of-the art school that has proven transformational for countless students and the Selma community. James helped organize the 50^thanniversary jubilee, a commemoration of the Selma Bridge Crossing, understanding the importance of the rural South to the civil rights movement. At the Foundation, James has served on three committees and spent two years at the helm as board president.

Dr. James Mitchell

Both James and LaVeeda joined the board in 2013, served three consecutive terms and then graciously agreed to serve two extensions to provide stability as the Foundation grappled with COVID, racial reckonings across the South and internal leadership transitions. Under their leadership, the Foundation has made nearly a thousand grants, totaling more than 130 million dollars to organizations advancing justice in the American South. Much of the Foundation’s considerable evolution over the past 11 years is attributable to LaVeeda and James, as they helped guide us through multiple strategic shifts, and were strong voices steering the Foundation toward our commitments to building power to advance racial equity.

Dr. Micah Gilmer (he/him) is Cofounder and Senior Partner of Frontline Solutions, a consulting firm that helps organizations transform their internal culture and deepen their impact with a racial and gender equity lens. Micah has served on four committees and even served as CEO for more than a year as the Foundation conducted its executive search. Since Micah joined the board in 2018, the Foundation has deployed more than $79 million in funding across the South.

Please join us in expressing our deep gratitude to LaVeeda, James and Micah, and in warmly welcoming our new directors, whose terms begin January first.

Oct 23 2023

Remembering Fearless Freedom Fighter Hollis Watkins

Family, friends and community members gathered Saturday to celebrate the life and legacy of freedom fighter Hollis Watkins at his alma mater, Tougaloo College, a frequent meeting space and safe haven for civil rights activists.

Watkins died peacefully at his home in Clinton, Mississippi, September 20 at age 82, according the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, for which he served as chairman.

Born in Mississippi to sharecroppers, Watkins was the youngest of 12 children. The intense racism he endured from a young age motivated him to join the civil rights movement.

Watkins became a field secretary for the Southern Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, where he worked alongside icons like Medgar Evers and Bob Moses. Police arrested and jailed Watkins several times for challenging segregation and registering Black people to vote.

In 1989, Watkins co-ounded Southern Echo, a nonprofit focused on empowering communities across the South through organizing, policy work, education, agriculture, training and technical assistance. Southern Echo was a Babcock grantee partner for two decades. In 2014, Watkins sat down with MRBF for a wide-ranging interview, sharing stories of his childhood, civil rights era memories and the founding of Echo. He also shared his frustration with the dearth of philanthropic funding in the South based on false notions of the region’s capacity.

“When you say, ‘They’re not ready,’ they’re not ready for what?” said Watkins. When you say, ‘Folks in Mississippi ain’t ready,’ then you are saying, ‘People in Mississippi is not ready to come out of slavery. People in Mississippi is not ready to be a part of a fair and equitable system for this country.’ And I don’t believe that. I think we all are ready for that. I hope Mississippi and the region can get to the point where we, as human beings, see all people as human beings.”

“It is wincingly painful to lose a lion like Hollis, particularly at a time when the very values he fought for are under coordinated attack,” said MRBF CEO Flozell Daniels Jr. “His example and legacy serve as a roadmap for us and future generations of leaders striving courageously toward a more equitable South.”

From his teenage years, Watkins understood the power of music in organizing during the civil rights movement, inspiring people to take action through freedom songs.

Get on board, children, children.

Let’s fight for human rights.

Babcock’s board, staff, grantees and allies will carry on the fight. Rest well, Brother Watkins. And thank you.

Sep 07 2023

MRBF Joins Due Diligence 2.0 Commitment

The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation is pleased to announce we have signed onto the Due Diligence 2.0 commitment alongside dozens of other asset owners, allocators and advisors. While the Foundation centers racial equity in our grantmaking across 11 Southern states, embracing this initiative is a milepost in our journey to invest our endowment with an explicit racial equity lens. This means allocating more capital to emerging managers, communities, entrepreneurs and stakeholders of color.

The pernicious racial wealth gap that throttles the entirety of the American economy is especially acute in the asset management industry. White male asset managers control 98.6 percent of the investment industry’s more than $80 trillion in assets under management, according to the Knight Foundation’s Diversity of Asset Mangers Research Series. That means firms owned by women and people of color manage a mere 1.4 percent. The numbers are bleaker for Black women, who receive less than 0.35 percent of all venture capital funding, according to Crunchbase. The financial industry’s due diligence standards tend to direct capital to the same firms, which are overwhelmingly white, thereby reinforcing these inequities. MRBF seeks to do better by implementing nine suggestions in the Due Diligence 2.0 commitment.

One tenet, for example, is to contextualize fees. Investors may screen out smaller firms due to higher fees, which may be the result of undercapitalization, market research or capacity growth. The commitment recommends working with emerging managers to tie fundraising success to future fee reductions. Another tenet is to be willing to go first. Consider acting as a seed investor rather than waiting for later closings to foster fundraising momentum. The commitment also reminds investors to be forthcoming about hurdles like minimum thresholds to be respectful of managers’ time.

“More transparency fosters higher levels of fairness and equity,” said MRBF Impact Investment Officer Julius Kimbrough. “At the Babcock Foundation we talk openly about our values-first investment practices, like not investing in fossil fuels. Due Diligence 2.0 gives us an opportunity to increase transparency in our investment decision making processes. Anything that turns the informal into the formal, that makes the opaque transparent is a win for the communities we serve at Babcock.”

“Due Diligence 2.0 signatories like MRBF are making critical commitments toward removing long-standing barriers to racial equity in finance,” said Rachel J. Robasciotti, CEO and Founder of Adasina Social Capital. “The commitment offers us all an opportunity to redistribute access and shift the power dynamics, share prosperity, and create a more inclusive economic landscape.”

The Foundation is grateful to the authors of the Due Diligence 2.0 commitment for this opportunity, including Robasciotti, Brent Kessel, Tracy Gray and Erika Seth Davies. As a philanthropic foundation, Babcock’s primary function is grantmaking. Our board and staff believe moving the needle on social, economic and racial justice means leveraging all our resources.

Jan 07 2023

Toward a New Democracy

“Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part.”
John Lewis

It’s often said we don’t realize when we’re living through history. The events of this week are unmistakably historic, for better and for worse.

Georgians elected their first Black senator and first Jewish senator, a culmination of the diligent, aligned work of organizers building power in communities of color, particularly Black communities, through year-round engagement, voter registration and education, leadership development, and support of people experiencing hardships such as COVID and racial violence. These groups include many of our grantee partners: ProGeorgia, GALEO, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, Latino Community Fund, GLAHR, New American Pathways, Georgia STAND-UP, Partnership for Southern Equity and Women’s Watch Afrika.

We had only begun to celebrate the historic events in Georgia when domestic terrorists refocused our attention to Washington DC, where, in recent months, protesters of police brutality, white supremacy and systemic racism had been tear gassed for an unnecessary photo opportunity. It is impossible to reconcile the contrasting police response to yesterday’s heavily armed white rioters and the peaceful demonstrators calling for racial justice. Capitol police failed to hold back the angry mobs as they attacked the sacred process of transfer of power, wreaking injury and death, and forcing our elected representatives to hide under their desks in terror.

“The juxtaposition of these groundbreaking events paints a stark picture of America’s dueling realities,” said Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO’s CEO and MRBF’s board president. “Here in Georgia, we’ve worked for many years to advance our vision of an empowered, multiracial, cross-class coalition, while in our nation’s capital, America’s shameful legacy of white supremacy – emboldened by incendiary rhetoric from the very top of our government – was on disgraceful display.”

Yesterday’s domestic terrorism exposes the painful truth that our democracy was founded on centuries of white supremacy. We see the reverberating damage not only in this insurrection, but also in the rise of fascism, ongoing police violence, COVID’s outsized harms to communities of color, voter suppression, wealth inequality, disparate health outcomes, education funding and more.

While the coup ultimately did not succeed, the brazen breach of the Capitol for the first time in more than 200 years broadcasts the urgent need for racial equity and pro-democracy, transformational work happening across the South to create truly representative government. Our partners are undaunted, and so are we. As Georgia shows, with sustained investment in communities, diligence, trust and love, we can begin to envision a stronger, more inclusive democracy that works for everyone.

Aug 26 2022

Ford Foundation Invest $10M to Support Southern Organizing via Mary Reynolds Babcock foundation

Today the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation announced it will invest an additional $10 million from the Ford Foundation to support organizing and advocacy in the American South. Over the next five years, Ford’s investment will augment the Babcock Foundation’s ongoing primary grantmaking strategy, which is to help strengthen the growing organizations and networks working together to advance racial equity.

The Babcock Foundation sees how sustained investment in grassroots organizations and networks strengthens Southerners’ lives in significant ways. In most of these states, there are growing networks of grassroots organizations with state-level alignment that are advancing voting rights and access to the ballot box, making constituents’ voices are heard on the issues important to them. These organizations are engaged in census outreach and redistricting processes to ensure fair maps, adequate federal funding and accurate representation in state legislatures and Congress. Across the region, these groups also leapt into action when COVID-19 hit, creating mutual aid funds for people who were not eligible for federal assistance.

The unique collaboration between the Babcock and Ford Foundations highlights how trusting relationships yield lasting social benefits. The two foundations have worked together previously to target millions of dollars to areas that have suffered from a dearth of public and philanthropic investment. When the Babcock Foundation shared its revised strategic directions, with deepened commitments to power building and racial equity, Ford saw an opportunity to invest in the success of a shared vision for the region.

“The Babcock Foundation envisions a South where everyone can influence the decisions that affect quality of life, with responsive and representative leadership, people-centered policies, and abundant economic opportunities,” said MRBF Chief Strategy Officer Elena Conley. “Ford’s investment in the power building infrastructure will galvanize the work it will take to realize this vision.”

“There is an urgent need to support the communities and people long excluded from the decisions affecting their lives, particularly in the American South,” said Sarita Gupta, vice president of US programs for the Ford Foundation. “We are thrilled to partner with the Babcock Foundation to bolster the innovative advocacy that has always existed in the South and cannot wait to see what these organizations accomplish in the months and years to come.”

Historically, philanthropic and public sector support for the South has been sporadic and fallen far short of national averages, undermining organizations’ efforts to grow their capacity, organize, base-build and bring people into the fold by meeting basic needs and addressing real-life challenges. The Babcock and Ford partnership aims to offer support in ways that bolster the Southern power building infrastructure more responsibly and sustainably. The foundations will capture and share lessons to sharpen their own grantmaking and inform and influence other funders’ understanding about effective ways to support Southern organizations.

Both foundations are eager to identify and fund advocacy work in the South with multiyear, general operating support. Organizations who see themselves in MRBF’s program description are welcome to submit an organizational summary to determine whether they are a good fit for this funding.

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ABOUT THE MARY REYNOLDS BABCOCK FOUNDATION

The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation’s mission is to help people and places move out of poverty and achieve greater social and economic justice. The Foundation supports organizations and networks in 11 Southern states pursuing change along three connected pathways: democracy and civic engagement, supportive policies and institutions, and economic opportunity.

ABOUT THE FORD FOUNDATION

The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to address inequality and build a future grounded in justice. For more than 85 years, it has supported visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. Today, with an endowment of $16 billion, the foundation has headquarters in New York and 10 regional offices across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Contacts:

Susanna Hegner, Communications Director, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation: shegner@mrbf.org (336) 726-1467

Tolu Onafowokan, Ford Foundation, pressline@fordfoundation.org

Jul 01 2022

Revoking Reproductive Justice is Only the Beginning

As the nation begins a long weekend commemorating Independence Day, Americans who champion democracy, social justice, a clean environment, and racial and gender equity are not in a particularly celebratory mindset. A series of regressive rulings from the Supreme Court has halted and reversed progress, and more harmful decisions await on the polluted horizon. The court has agreed to take up a case from North Carolina called Moore v. Harper which could diminish already fragile checks and balances on extreme gerrymandering. This week the high court also severely restricted the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate pollution from power plants.

Especially alarming, of course, is the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade granted the constitutional right to an abortion, the fight for reproductive justice begins anew. This ruling will greatly exacerbate racial and geographic disparities in poverty, social justice, as well as health and educational outcomes. The Babcock Foundation’s mission is to help people and places move out of poverty and achieve greater social and economic justice. We support organizations and networks building power to advance racial equity. Overturning Roe runs aggressively contrary to our mission and values, and hampers the work of our partners across our 11-state region.

This decision most acutely harms Southern people of color, as many of the 22 states banning or severely restricting abortion are in the South, home to nearly half of America’s Black population and booming immigrant populations. Many states that already had the most severe restrictions on abortion also have the highest rates of maternal mortality. Banning abortion in these places will kill countless more women due to unsafe procedures and lack of access to critical care in life-threatening situations. What’s more, states criminalizing abortion are also likely to prosecute people for making the anguishing decision to end their pregnancies, which could result in felony charges and a permanent loss of voting rights.

In their statement, our partners at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities point out, “By creating new legal and financial barriers to health care based on where people live and their resources to seek care elsewhere, the Court’s decision will further worsen health disparities. … Black women die at significantly higher rates than other groups and are twice as likely to experience serious health conditions resulting from labor or delivery. And births involving unintended pregnancies are more likely to result in adverse health outcomes for women, including death; this risk is higher for women of color than for white women.”

Our partners at State Voices remind us we are not powerless. They have curated a list of ways to translate our rage into action, including learning about the work happening in each state, a guide to making voting plans, ways to advocate for reproductive justice and organizations that could use donations to sustain this fight.

The toppling of Roe, however, did not happen in isolation. It is the culmination of a decades-long lurch toward authoritarianism and series of attacks on the pillars of democracy. We have seen this manifested in voter suppression efforts, gerrymandering and rising white supremacy, and the January sixth insurrection at the Capitol. The board and staff of the Foundation are wrestling with the weight of this disastrous decision and the trajectory it portends: a likely domino effect that would reverse hard-fought gains for the LGBTQ community, contraception, in-vitro fertilization and other rights.

The Babcock Foundation stands in solidarity with our partners and allies across the country fighting for basic human rights. We are also considering the best ways to show up for our grantee partners and the Southern communities they serve. While we are crestfallen about what’s happened and terrified for what’s to come, we commit to learning and doing alongside our partners and allies with respect, dignity and hope.

Jan 22 2021

Celebrating 2020 (Yes, Really)

We are in an era of transition, opportunity and hope. A new federal administration is beginning to address the atrocities and negligence of the previous one. Two new senators – one Black, one Jewish – are making history by representing Georgia. COVID vaccine distributions are allowing a glimpse out of a dark tunnel.

The Babcock Foundation also is in transition. As we announced last week, CEO Justin Maxson has accepted a position in the Biden-Harris Administration – as Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development. While Justin’s departure is a loss for the Foundation, it is a gain for rural America, and our board and staff are strong and well positioned to move forward in service of our mission.

Even with all the moving parts as we dig into the work to create a better South in 2021, we believe it is worthwhile to look back on the achievements of the last year. In many regards, 2020’s dubious reputation is well deserved. COVID began its onslaught, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and plunging millions into joblessness, economic distress and poverty. Well documented police and vigilante violence against Black Americans prompted uprisings across the country. Voter suppression was rampant, and bad actors tested our democracy.

Our grantee partners exhibited remarkable adaptability, redirecting their energies to supporting people harmed by the pandemic, distributing cash, food and personal protective equipment, creatively rethinking how they engaged with communities, and capitalizing on opportunities to advance criminal justice reform. They did all this as they helped generate record voter turnout, particularly among voters of color.

Democracy

First and foremost, we take a deep bow to the hardworking folks in Georgia who have been organizing and base building for many years to realize a more representative democracy. These groups include many of our grantee partners: ProGeorgia, GALEO, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, Latino Community Fund, GLAHR, New American Pathways, Georgia STAND-UP, Partnership for Southern Equity and Women Watch Afrika. They registered tens of thousands of voters ahead of the presidential election, took a breath, then registered tens of thousands more voters leading up to the Senate runoff elections this month. In eight short weeks, ProGeorgia and its member organizations held nearly 18 million conversations in several languages. That’s more than half of Georgia’s voting population. Voters of color turned out in record-breaking numbers. “This is our home, and it’s our right to participate and to define our future,” Gigi Pedraza, Executive Director of the Latino Community Fund, told NBC News.

Unfortunately, these organizations can’t take a well-deserved break. With the state legislative session underway, they’re working to protect voting rights as lawmakers seek strict limits on absentee voting, and to ensure the redistricting process is fair and transparent. “We often see legislation that is destructive to working-class people, everyday people, Black and brown people, immigrants, and undocumented folks,” Tamieka Atkins, Executive Director of ProGeorgia, told Prism. “So our fight continues.”

In Louisiana, voters rejected two amendments that would have restricted funding for public goods. “Fiscal fairness is about not balancing Louisiana’s budget on the backs of low- and moderate-income earners,” wrote the Power Coalition, the statewide network of civic engagement organizations. “Amendment 4 would have put an artificial cap on state spending, while Amendment 5 would have opened the door for more tax breaks that would have primarily gone to oil and gas companies. Fortunately, voters overwhelmingly rejected both amendments, providing a decisive victory for our schools, health care, roads, and other important public goods.”

In Arkansas, voters rejected Issue 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have weakened citizens’ ability to initiate ballot initiatives. Arkansas Public Policy Panel was among the organizations opposed to the measure. Despite a regressive policy environment, advocacy groups have used ballot initiatives to advance supportive policies, including a minimum wage increase, education reforms and legalized medical marijuana.

Alabama voters approved an amendment to remove racist language from its 120-year-old constitution, which includes sections condoning school segregation, poll taxes and mixed-race marriage bans. Voters had rejected similar proposals twice since 2000, but the measure passed last year with 67 percent support. “This change will address one of the constitution’s original sins: its authors’ explicit intent to establish white supremacy in Alabama,” wrote Jim Carnes, Policy Director at Alabama Arise, which supported the amendment.

This month, Mississippi hoisted its new flag at the state capitol for the first time, six months after lawmakers retired one featuring the Confederate battle emblem. Last year Mississippians voted to replace the flag amid a national reckoning over the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans. The new flag features a magnolia, the state flower, circled by stars that signify Choctaw culture. Several organizations, including Mississippi One Voice, had long advocated for replacing the flag. “This was a long time coming,” One Voice Executive Director Nsombi Lambright told the New York Times. “I’m glad to see this happen in my lifetime, in my son’s lifetime — in my grandmother’s lifetime.”

COVID: Pivoting to Care for Communities

Local and regional philanthropies and immigrant-serving organizations stepped up to the plate in meaningful ways to protect people from the health and economic harms of the pandemic. Many created mutual aid funds to support their communities through the crisis. While too numerous to list in this article, MRBF contributed to several of these funds, and you can read about them here and here.

Community Farm Alliance began the year aiming to celebrate its 35^th anniversary with a new strategic plan, but COVID prompted CFA to focus instead on supporting families. The organization distributed nearly $200,000 through multiple funds, with emphasis on small-scale farmers unable to access USDA assistance, Black farmers, farmers markets, and families dealing with food insecurity.

Coalfield Development Corporation halted its normal operations, then adapted to serve its West Virginia community. Its sustainable agriculture company shifted to fresh-food mobile pick-ups to provide healthful foods. Coalfield’s woodshop designed emergency beds in case of overflow needs at local hospitals. Its t-shirt company donated its inventory of clothing to hospitals and shifted from making shirts to making masks for health-care workers. “These are but small measures to help, but they signal the kinds of resilient businesses our modern crisis-ridden world will need if it is to thrive in these uncertain times,” CEO Brandon Dennison told the Herald-Dispatch.

COVID: Policy Advocacy

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has been advocating for more robust federal relief measures, and its partner groups have pushed for policy shifts to better support Southerners through the crisis.

Thanks in part to analysis, advocacy and recommendations by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia extended its unemployment insurance benefits from 14 to 26 weeks. More than a third of the state’s workforce is employed in retail, food service, and administrative support positions.

Similarly, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy played a critical role in Kentucky’s decision to expand unemployment insurance by identifying needed reforms, helping get them introduced in a bill and making the case in the media.

MRBF partners in Georgia and North Carolina signed onto letters urging state leaders to halt utility shutoffs during the economic crisis. These organizations include Partnership for Southern Equity, Appalachian Voices, North Carolina Justice Center and Down Home North Carolina.

COVID: Community Development Financial Institutions

One of the most critical lifelines during the economic downturn has been the work of community development financial institutions. The federal government’s COVID assistance was difficult to access, so CDFIs stepped in to provide much-needed capital, keep businesses afloat and save jobs. Some examples:

Mountain Association offered three months of interest-only or deferred payments and created a new “Immediate Response Loan,” disbursing more than $110,000 to 24 businesses and organizations. It also offered technical assistance to help businesses plan for uncertainty.
The closure of farmers markets, school districts and restaurants put many small-scale farmers across the Delta region at risk of losing an entire growing season. Communities Unlimited, an Arkansas-based CDFI, launched the Farm to Pantry program, which buys fruit and vegetables from Black farmers and delivers it to 23 food pantries in a seven-state region. This is a lifeline for the low-wealth families who rely on the pantries, which were running low on fresh produce, and for the farmers, who were at risk of losing their land. CU also is helping to keep childcare centers from closing.
CommunityWorks Carolina created a COVID-related emergency consumer loan product with a savings component. CWC also is working to help South Carolina nonprofits stay afloat.
Hope Enterprise Corporation also launched a consumer loan product tied to savings, aimed at meeting borrowers’ basic needs in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
The Latino Community Development Center in North Carolina, working with the Latino Community Credit Union, created “emergency solidarity loans” for immigrants who have lost jobs and may be ineligible for federal assistance programs. Its membership is 93 percent Latino and 80 percent low wealth.
Self-Help is working with CWC on its loan product and has launched a separate fund to help struggling borrowers stay in their homes in North and South Carolina.

Other Encouraging Developments of 2020

Down Home North Carolina and other organizations were able to effect bail reform in Alamance County, where a person’s freedom depended on whether they could afford bail, which advocates argue is a violation of due process and equal protection. Now, people in the county jail receive an individual determination of their ability to pay bail, an opportunity to be heard by a judge, and representation by an attorney at their first court appearance. “This change will have a positive impact for Alamance County residents, especially poor, Black and brown communities who have borne the weight of these unfair practices for so long,” said Sugelema Lynch, Down Home’s Alamance County organizer.

Appalachian Voices helped advance reforms during the legislative session to expand access to rooftop solar energy on businesses, nonprofits, schools and other government buildings in the coalfield region of Virginia. In April, the General Assembly voted to allow independent solar providers to offer third-party power purchase agreements to commercial-scale customers of two major utility companies. “Given the current economic crisis facing our local governments, allowing these solar projects to move forward so that they can begin saving money on their electricity bills as soon as possible is a gamechanger,” said Chelsea Barnes, AV’s New Economy Program Manager in a news release.

After years of work by the  Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, the state is modernizing its sales tax by collecting sales tax from online retailers and services like Uber and Airbnb. This was one of GBPI’s top four recommendations for improving Georgia’s tax code in its agenda, People-Powered Prosperity.   

Thanks in large part to West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy’s efforts, the state reversed course on a corporate tax cut. WVCBP educated lawmakers and the public to persuade the legislature to vote against it. Its digital advocacy campaign generated nearly 700 constituent letters about the bill, which would have cost the state $300 million a year in tax revenue. WVCBP was also instrumental in convincing the governor to commit $1 million toward a complete and accurate 2020 Census count.

The end-of-year economic stimulus bill passed in late December included a one-year extension of the excise tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, thanks in part to the advocacy of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center. “We will continue to push for a ten-year extension next year, but this is a critical win for miners and families affected by black lung disease,” wrote ACLC. The Center also won millions of dollars in benefits and medical care for sick coal miners.

A music video produced by the Latino Community Fund of Georgia won the runner-up award in the national Get Out the Count Census Challenge. There were more than 700 submissions, and the award brought a $10,000 prize. The song is catchy, even if you don’t speak Spanish! Scroll down to watch “Me Toca a Mí, Te Toca a Tí!”

While 2020 had its bleak days – okay, months – our hindsight includes gratitude and awe of our partners, who adapted to harsh new realities to protect and empower people, and achieve significant wins despite considerable difficulty. We are excited to see how they carry forward into 2021 and beyond, and understand how we can best support them.

If you have a success story you’d like to share, please send it our way.

Feb 27 2020

People Want to Vote: Georgia’s Power Building Network

Georgia has a robust network of more than 40 civic engagement organizations sharing resources, strategies and expertise to strengthen their collective pursuit of a more equitable future. A member of the State Voices Network, ProGeorgia is the “state table,” the hub that knits this infrastructure together.

“We really provide the tools, the data, the resources for our partners to go out and have really efficient, effective and strategic voter registration and voter engagement for our shared communities,” said ProGeorgia Executive Director Tamieka Atkins.

Despite a largely regressive state policy environment, this network is optimistic about Georgia’s potential. Advocates are protecting and expanding access to the ballot. The state’s population is rapidly growing and diversifying. Organizers are building power with an explicit focus on racial equity. Georgians are shifting the narrative about who they are and what is possible. And ProGeorgia is putting wind in the movement’s sails.

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