“I want everyone to have the experience I have.” That’s Cristina Plata, a 40-year-old single mother of five who is studying to get her GED at a Family Success Center in Greensboro, N.C. After her husband died she says she became depressed and then saw an item on Facebook about the Family Success Center. SheContinue reading MDC helps Greensboro United Way expand family success to the whole community →

Are you a talented and passionate recent college graduate (or know one) who is eager to equip Southern leaders, institutions, and communities to improve economic mobility and advance equity? Then MDC’s Autry Fellowship may be for you. The Autry Fellow works one full year as a paid staff member at MDC on a range ofContinue reading Applications accepted through Jan. 12 for MDC’s 2020-2021 Autry Fellowship →

Two community foundations and two health-conversion foundations will participate in MDC’s inaugural Passing Gear Philanthropy Institute, an eight-month initiative to create a network of philanthropies across the South working to remove structural barriers to equity, opportunity, and justice in their communities. MDC plans for this to be the first of five annual Institutes that willContinue reading MDC Announces 2020 Cohort for Passing Gear Philanthropy Institute →

After 32 years at MDC, the last 20 as president, David Dodson announced that he is retiring in June 2020. “This is a propitious time to hand the reins to a new leader who shares the vision and values that have guided MDC since 1967,” he wrote in a note to friends and partners. AContinue reading Dodson to retire as MDC president in 2020 →

DURHAM, N.C. — More than 1.2 million people in North Carolina are living with a suspended driver’s license—more than 75% of whom are people of color. For many of these individuals their “crime” is simply an inability to pay their traffic ticket. Issues like this one, among others, were discussed at the 2nd Annual ConveningContinue reading MDC hosts Southern Partnership to Reduce Debt in effort to ‘disaggregate our safety from our addiction to punishment’ →

An MDC board member says ensuring that economic growth includes everyone is an infrastructure issue and bemoans the competition between communities to lure companies when most jobs come from small and medium-sized businesses.Continue reading Q&A with Amir Farokhi, Atlanta City Council member and Director of the Corporate Council at CARE USA →

Leaders from six Southern cities reflect on and discuss their experiences and what they’ve learned about mobilizing communities to challenge racism and build more equitable systems. Continue reading Network for Southern Economic Mobility helps community leaders align systems to position low-income young people for success →

After 15 years equipping individual foundations to invest in solutions to the South’s most pressing challenges, MDC will expand its approach to reach cohorts of Southern foundations through a new Passing Gear Philanthropy Institute.Continue reading MDC launches Passing Gear Philanthropy Institute to equip Southern foundations to address barriers to opportunity and inclusion →

Leaders in the Network for Southern Economic Mobility will meet in Charlotte for a convening that will highlight the work of Charlotte’s Leading on Opportunity initiative, which is taking a systemic approach to addressing the key determinants of early care and education, college and career readiness, segregation, social capital, and child and family stability.Continue reading NSEM teams meet in Charlotte and hear from ‘Leading on Opportunity’ initiative →

The myFutureNC Commission proposes a statewide education attainment goal: Two million 25- to 44-year-olds with a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by 2030. MDC staff served as facilitators, advisors, and partners in the myFutureNC Commission’s year of research, community outreach, deliberations, and writing, supported by grants from the Lumina Foundation and the John M. Belk Endowment.Continue reading ‘This is nothing short of a crisis’: MDC facilitation supports setting N.C. postsecondary attainment goal →