THE 'PROSPERITY PACKAGE' IS A CHANCE TO REDUCE ATHENS' 38 PERCENT POVERTY RATE
Flagpole | May 15, 2019
Two city commissioners in Athens, Ga., are putting forward a proposal to allocate $4 million to create a prosperity package of job training and business incentives that they say "is the direct result of the Athens Pathways to Prosperity by the Network for Southern Economic Mobility"--the MDC program aimed at creating systemic community change that leads to greater upward economic mobility for those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
MDC LAUNCHES PASSING GEAR PHILANTHROPY INSTITUTE TO RESHAPE SOUTHERN PHILANTHROPY
Family Giving News Blog | May 3, 2019
The blog of the National Center for Family Philanthropy highlights MDC's Passing Gear Philanthropy Institute in the context of family foundations that have been a philanthropic mainstay of the Southern landscape, "making pathbreaking investments to advance a region that lags the nation in the overall level of foundation assets."
A Community Foundation’s 20th Turns into a Call to Action on Poverty and Race
Nonprofit Quarterly | Oct. 2, 2018
MDC President David Dodson tells members of the Columbus, Ga., Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee at its 20th anniversary celebration that Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas have the least economic mobility in the country.
After 20 years of investment, Community Foundation looks to future of giving
Ledger-Enquirer | Sept. 30, 2018
MDC President David Dodson, speaking to the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley, challenges givers to think of giving in a different way.
BIRMINGHAM COULD BE THE SOUTHERN CITY THAT GETS IT RIGHT
Comeback Town | Sept. 28, 2018
MDC intern Natalie Pickett writes in a guest blog that her hometown of Birmingham, still young in the life cycle of urban revitalization in the 21st century, could be the Southern city that gets it right—that invests in developing its native talent as much as attracting new talent from out of state or over the mountain.
Editorial: Globalism is actually helping Danville (and lots other places)
The Roanoke Times | Aug. 10, 2018
MDC has worked for more than 20 years to help institutions in Danville, Va., improve the economic mobility of its low-income residents. This story talks about how far the city has come.
Spartanburg program showcased before Southern city leaders
GoUpstate.com | May 15, 2018
The publication reports on MDC's Network for Southern Economic Mobility Spring 2018 Convening in Spartanburg and Greenville and a featured program that promotes economic mobility among children of low-income families.
Study: South should spend on schools, train homegrown talent
Associated Press | April 11, 2018
The AP reports on MDC's State of the South 2018, saying as teachers in multiple states protest for better pay, a new study warns that the fast-growing region must invest more in public schools and higher education to ensure its homegrown talent shares in its economic prosperity.
AP's story ran nationwide, including in these media outlets:
- New York Times | April 11, 2018 (subscription required to view story)
- Washington Post | April 11, 2018 (subscription required to view story)
- Tampa Bay Times | April 11, 2018
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | April 11, 2018
Place-Based Philanthropy: Illustrations from the South
Nonprofit Quarterly | April 24, 2018
Community development consultant Debby Warren writes about MDC's State of South 2018 report, saying big philanthropy is not investing in the deep South, but that a growing number of smaller Southern place-based funders are investing in strategic and collaborative systems change to promote more inclusive and equitable communities.]
A New Push to Get Community College Students in Mississippi Across the Finish Line
Inside Philanthropy | March 2, 2018
Mississippi's community colleges are receiving financial support with their retention and completion challenges from the Woodward Hines Education Foundation and Achieving the Dream, an organization focused on helping community colleges succeed. ATD was conceived by Lumina Foundation with MDC and other partners.
Group looks at ways to break young people out of poverty
The Florida Times-Union | Feb. 6, 2018
The paper covers MDC's convening of leading civic organizations in Jacksonville, Fla. to examine how to break young people out of poverty, part of MDC's Network for Southern Economic Mobility project.
GRANTMAKING IN THE SOUTH IS WAY UP. CAN IT BECOME THE REGION'S "PASSING GEAR?"
Inside Philanthropy | Dec. 10, 2017
Southeastern Council of Foundations CEO Janine Lee discusses findings and opportunities revealed by its MDC-commissioned report, Philanthropy as the South's Passing Gear: Fulfilling the Promise.
Carolina Business Review
July 17, 2017
Micco LLC President Minor Shaw, chair of the Duke Endowment, talks about MDC and its Network for Southern Economic Mobility as an example of how regions and states can help more people move up the economic ladder to financial security.
BCCC sees health progress with Beau-Fitt
Washington Daily News | March 21, 2016
The newspaper covers a visit by MDC staff members Stephanie Saunders and Jenna Bryant to Beaufort County Community College to review progress made by the college as part of the Healthy Places North Carolina initiative, a project of MDC and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.
Playing the Long Game
Philanthropy Journal News | Jan. 4, 2016
Author author Sandra Cyr shares how MDC's work creates long-term, systemic change in communities across the South and facilitates enduring, resilient communities and leaders.
Answers for tomorrow's workforce right here in our backyard
The Herald Sun | Dec. 19, 2015
Guest columnist Bill Ingram, president of Durham Technical Community College, champions MDC's Made in Durham initiative for offering a solution for the community's future workforce needs.
Food aid in Jeopardy for more North Carolina healthy adults
News and Observer | Oct. 8, 2015
The Associated Press discusses MDC Senior Program Director Ralph Gildehaus' concerns over potential downsides of legislation considered by the state of North Carolina that puts food aid in jeopardy for many recipients.
Advocate: Step Up Savannah must continue efforts to seek poverty cures
Savannah Morning News | Oct. 2, 2015
The paper reports on MDC President David Dodson's keynote address to more than 100 attendees at the 10th anniversary breakfast meeting of Step Up Savannah, a poverty-reduction organization based in Savannah, Ga., where he told the group: "Mobility is a powerful answer to poverty" and advocated for communities in the American South to "turn small pockets of opportunity into an infrastructure of opportunity to promote mobility, success, and opportunity."
The Triangle's broken economic ladder
The News & Observer | Sept. 11, 2015
A guest op ed by MDC President David Dodson reports on progress made by Made in Durham, a community partnership incubated by MDC, that is promoting economic mobility through education.
Mobility message: Getting education vital for moving up
Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.) | May 28, 2015
MDC President David Dodson tells leaders from across northeast Mississippi that American Dream is more difficult to attain in the South than in any region of the country. That’s why it is critical for the region to focus on increasing the number of students who earn two- and four-year college degrees.
Ferrel Guillory: Rural vs. urban N.C. sales tax redistribution is a lose-lose scenario
The Fayetteville Observer | April 8, 2015
MDC Senior Fellow Ferrel Guillory says in a guest editorial that building on metro area strengths to promote rural opportunity would be a better approach than legislative proposals to that seek to redistribute sales tax revenues in a way that pits rural areas again urban ones.
Income mobility myth
The News & Observer | April 7, 2015
Columnist Ted Vaden reports on a community meeting during which MDC President David Dodson reveals it is harder for a U.S. child born into poverty in the South to rise to a place of economic security.
Where you live matters: Concentrated wealth affects mobility
Facing South | March 4, 2015
MDC program manager Alyson Zandt discusses findings from MDC's 2014 State of the South report that show economically segregated neighborhoods not only concentrate wealth but also opportunities for moving out of poverty.
New tax rules, penalties exist under Obamacare
Greenville (N.C.) News | Jan. 31, 2015
MDC Senior Program Director Ralph Gildehaus says more consumers will need tax preparation assistance because of new Affordable Care Act requirements, and they can find free assistance at MDC's The Benefit Bank of North Carolina, among other places.
The old hurdle in the New South
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) | Jan. 19, 2015
Editorial writer Lanny Keller draws on MDC's 2014 State of the South report to make the case for considering race and class divisions when shaping a Southern agenda that envisions wider prosperity.
Poverty fight will be a long haul
The News & Observer | Dec. 29, 2014
Columnist Jim Wise points to Made in Durham, an MDC-incubated education-to-career community partnership, as one way to move people our of poverty.
Jobs for young Southerners: Thanks for nothing
The Economist | Nov. 26, 2014
The United Kingdom-based magazine reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which revealed that 30 percent of young people under 25 in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and North Carolina are underemployed.
Upward mobility remains an elusive hope for many in the South
The News & Observer | Nov. 21, 2014
The editorial reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report, concluding that education remains the key to upward economic mobility.
The South: Complex Landscape, Common Challenge
American Prospect | Nov. 16, 2014
The magazine reprints excerpts from MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which presents data, insights and a scan of nine Southern communities to showcase initiatives and innovation that promote economic opportunity, heighten educational achievement, and increase young peoples’ chances for upward mobility.
David Dodson, president of the nonprofit MDC, discusses economic mobility and the State of the South 2014
NC Policy Watch | Nov. 24, 2014
Dodson in a podcast presents key takeaways from MDC's 2014 State of the South report, including the lack of economic mobility for young people and examples of community that are innovating to overcome that challenge.
Many Left Behind Even as North Carolina's Biggest Cities Thrive
Public News Service | Nov. 11, 2014
The story reports highlights from MDC's 2014 State of the South report, including sobering news that the rising ride is not lifting all boats and a call to create an infrastructure of opportunity to promote economic mobility for young people across the South.
Unemployment for Young People Generates Costs for Us All
Prosperity Watch | Issue 42, No. 3
The North Carolina Justice Center Budget and Tax Center publication reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which shows that economic mobility is particularly challenging for young people in the South, perpetuating high poverty and higher societal costs.
The Agenda Starting Tomorrow
NC Policy Watch | Nov. 4, 2014
The N.C. Justice Center publication reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which points to the deep economic disparities that exist in the South and calls for readers to do whatever it takes to create an infrastructure of opportunity to remove those disparities.
Latest "State of the South" report documents a divided region
The Progressive Pulse | No. 3, 2014
The publication calls MDC's 2014 State of the South report a must read for anyone interested in looking behind the headlines to get a feel for exactly what's going on in the region.
Communities should craft destinies, new report says
Statehouse Report (South Carolina) | Oct. 31, 2014
The publication reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report and its 11 recommendations for communities across the South to consider to build their own infrastructure of opportunity to improve the economic mobility of young people born into poverty.
Report: Birmingham's poor have more barriers than other Southern cities
AL.com (Alabama) | Oct. 30, 2014
The publication reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which revealed that Birmingham ranks 89th among the nation's largest commuting zones for upward mobility.
Young people's voice needed in building an infrastructure of opportunity
Facing South | Oct. 23, 2014
The publication reports on MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which highlights how the American dream of intergenerational upward mobility is more elusive for young people born at the bottom of the income ladder in the South and concludes young people's voices must be included in debates and decisions that affect their future.
Houston offers the most opportunity in the South. Yay?
Houston Chronicle | Oct. 22, 2014
Columnist Lisa Gray questions whether findings in MDC's 2014 State of the South report, which show Houston boasts one of the best economic mobility rates in the South, qualify it for bragging rights, given that young people born into poverty in the South have little chance of moving up economically.
State of the South Report Cites Innovation Hub as Key to Arkansas Growth
Arkansas Business | Oct. 22, 2014
The story highlights North Little Rock's Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub and its efforts to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and access to the knowledge economy, which were featured in MDC's 2014 State of the South report.
Southern States Must Fix "Infrastructure of Opportunity" in K-2, Report Says
Education Week | Oct. 21, 2014
State EdWatch examines recommendations in MDC's 2014 State of the South report on how to strengthen the South's educational infrastructure of opportunity, including stronger middle schools, a new meld of high schools and community colleges, and enhanced pre-kindergarten programs.
Youth Mobility Stagnates in Southern Metros Like Raleigh
IndyWeek | Oct. 21, 2014
The magazine reports on findings in MDC's 2014 State of the South report that show economically vibrant Southern metros, like Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston, do a poor job propelling young people up the ladder of social and economic mobility.
The South needs to build an "infrastructure of opportunity" for its youth
Facing South | Oct. 21, 2014
MDC program manager Alyson Zandt reports on the deep inequities that threaten the South, revealed in MDC's 2014 State of the South report, and the reward for finding innovative ways of addressing them.
How North Carolina Fits Into "The State of the South"
WUNC | Oct. 21, 2014
MDC President David Dodson and Senior Fellow Ferrel Guillory talk about where North Carolina fits, based on findings in MDC's 2014 State of the South report.
State of the South rated
The Brownsville (Texas) Herald | Oct. 27, ,2014
Brownsville's All In partnership is illuminated in this story that reports on findings from MDC's 2014 State of the South report that also reveal that booming Southern cities considered the most business friendly also suffer from substantial inequities that threaten the communities’ well being.
Is American dream still alive?
The Charlotte Observer | Oct. 19, 2014
Editorial Page Editor Taylor Batten concludes from MDC's 2014 State of the South report that the need is urgent to change the odds for youth mobility in the South.
N.C. Rural Center to Craft New Strategic Vision
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.) | March 20, 2014
MDC helps the statewide rural economic development organization shape a new strategic vision, mission and structure nearly 25 years after crafting the policy paper that to its creation.
Community leaders celebrate collaboration
The Tidewater News (Franklin, Va.) | March 12, 2014
Leaders from Franklin and Southamption counties gather to celebrate and recommit to a community development collaboration launched 10 years earlier with help from MDC.
David Dodson: The plumb line and the right path
Faith & Leadership | March 10, 2014
Duke Divinity School interviews MDC president about the role theological education played in his career and his work at MDC helping people and communities out of poverty.
Obamacare enrollment rate in N.C. exceeds expectations
The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer | Feb. 17, 2014
MDC Senior Program Director Ralph Gildehaus describes how N.C. nonprofits, such as MDC's The Benefit Bank of North of North Carolina project, have collaborated to reach and enroll people who need health coverage.
North Carolina Fund: Leadership on Poverty
WUNC Black Issues Forum | Nov. 22, 2013
MDC's Dr. Shun Robertson and director/filmmaker Rebecca Cerese discuss how the North Carolina Fund, which launched MDC, fought poverty through education, job training, and housing, also found itself at the center of controversy.
Hope for the youth in Durham
The Durham VOICE | Nov. 20, 2013
Durham launches a new education-to-career initiative, called Made in Durham, based on a GlaxoSmithKline Foundation-funded MDC report, Disconnected Youth in the Research Triangle: an Ominous Problem Hidden in Pain Sight.
In North Carolina, Commemorating an Innovative Strategy in the War on Poverty
Facing South | Nov. 13, 2013
The North Carolina Fund spent more than $16 million to fight poverty through manpower development, community action, education and research, and launched organizations, including MDC, that expanded its reach and impact.
Durham Celebrates 50th Anniversary of NC Fund
WUNC | Nov. 12, 2013
Community leaders and residents come together in Durham to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the North Carolina Fund, established by Gov. Terry Sanford in 1963 to fight North Carolina's "War on Poverty" and which created MDC.
50th Anniversary of The North Carolina Fund
All Things Considered, WUNC | Nov. 12, 2013
Host Frank Stasio and guests discuss the history of The North Carolina Fund, created to fight poverty and which created MDC.
New Statewide Hotline Helps NC Residents Enroll in Health Insurance Exchange
88.5 WFDD | Oct. 14, 2013
MDC's Scott Edmonds discusses a new statewide hotline to help North Carolinians connect with a healthcare navigator in their community. MDC is one of several N.C. nonprofits receiving federal funds for navigator positions.
No Medicaid Expansion in NC Means Limited Options For Some Residents
88.5 WFDD | Oct. 16, 2013
MDC's Scott Edmonds explains why action by lawmakers to reject Medicaid expansion will leave thousands of North Carolinians without health care.
Health Care Reform Experts Chat on WXII12.com
WXII12 News | Oct. 10, 2013
MDC's Scott Edmonds takes questions from TV viewers about navigating the Affordable Care Act and marketplace benefits.
The Gini is out of the bottle: Why Wall Street has nothing on inequality in the South
Facing South | Sept. 16, 2013
MDC's Scott Edmond's writes that the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is as wide as it's been in 100 years.
Why Rural Philanthropy Must Mean More than Money
Nonprofit Quarterly | July 17, 2013
MDC's Max Rose writes about the Black Belt Community Foundation's 100 Lenses racial equity project, which gives cameras to public and private school students to take picture around their community.
9 Investigates: Billions of dollars in benefits go unclaimed
WSOC-TV | May 10, 2013
ABC talks to MDC's Ralph Gildehaus about the estimated $2 billion in benefits— food stamps, tax credits, children's health care, seniors' health care and college money—North Carolinians miss out on each year.
Small-town Philanthropy: More Than Money
The Daily Yonder | May 29, 2013
MDC's Max Rose writes about the the Barry Community Foundation in Michigan, which builds all kinds of assets—not just financial ones.
Middle Border Forward fellows to create action plan for Dan River Region
The News & Advance | April 5, 2013
The Lynchburg, Va., paper announces the 50 regional fellows named to Danville Regional Foundation's newest initiative, Middle Border Forward, facilitated by MDC.
Group will detail progress since 2011
The Brownsville Herald | Oct. 16, 2012
The Texas newspaper reports on Brownsville's second annual State of Education luncheon, which featured an update on MDC’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Partners for Postsecondary Success initiative, which built community partnerships in Amarillo and Brownsville, Texas, and Raleigh, N.C. designed to significantly raise the number of low-income young adults completing postsecondary credentials and finding living-wage work.
In alliance with Self-Help, MDC relocating to Durham
Triangle Business Journal | Feb. 18, 2011
MDC Inc. is relocating from Chapel Hill to downtown Durham as it teams up with Self-Help Credit Union of Durham to acquire and renovate a historic building for its headquarters.
Interview with David Dodson
NC Now, UNC-TV | Feb 11, 2011
MDC President David Dodson discusses MDC's 2011 State of the South report, which shows that most Southern states lag not just the United States, but many developed nations in college completion rates—just as national awareness is growing that improving the number of people who get a college certificate or degree is crucial to competing in the global economy.