Author: mdcadmin

From left, Gov. William Winter, former MDC Program Director Shun Robertson, retired MDC President David Dodson, and MDC Autry Fellow Anna Shelton-Ormond at a 2015 showing of the documentary “The Toughest Job”  about Gov. Winter at UNC-CH MDC mourns the loss of Mississippi Gov. William F. Winter, who passed away Friday (12/18/20) in Jackson, Miss.,Continue reading Remembering Miss. Gov. William Winter, MDC chair emeritus and an inspiration →

The Oak Foundation has committed over $1.4 million to an 18-month MDC initiative that provides a network of organizations grants and support to advance their work to improve the lives of the one-in-five children who struggle with learning and attention issues, and the less than favorable outcomes for the ones who are low-income students and students of color.Continue reading LENS NC offers space for new connections and shared dreaming to help students with learning differences →

John Simpkins became MDC’s third president in 53 years in July 2020, succeeding David Dodson. Before coming to MDC, he held various leadership roles in efforts to promote equity, access, and inclusion at the state, national, and international level. Most recently he was vice president of the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.Continue reading Q&A with John Simpkins, MDC President →

MDC adds four new staff members to its operations and program teamsContinue reading MDC adds operations and program staff →

MDC Autry Fellow Faydra Richardson writes about being 22 in 2020.Continue reading 22 in 2020 →

Once you realize that Black Lives Matter, what comes next? Across the nation and beyond leaders are finding themselves in the awkward position of needing to address systemic inequities, but they are devoid of the tools or even the language to reckon with our deep history of racial violence and exclusion.
Social justice advocates already are questioning whether this is a movement or a moment; they are worried that that real change will remain illusory.
We can’t let that happen.Continue reading We can’t change the South’s past, but let’s make all Southerners part of its future: Op-ed by John Simpkins →

Nine North Carolina organizations focused on education, disability rights, activism, Latino issues, and rural communities were selected to learn more and advance their work at the intersection of race, educational equity, and learning differences through participation in “Learning for Equity: A Network for Solutions,” a learning and action network being created by MDC and Oak Foundation.Continue reading Nine North Carolina organizations selected to address the intersection between race, educational equity, and learning differences →

This is a time of profound loss of life in the wake of COVID-19 and deep mourning for George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubery, and victims of racial violence throughout America. Issues of equity on which MDC has toiled for more than 50 years have been laid bare and intensified. The ground we thought we had gained seems to be vanishing under our feet.Continue reading We stand with all Southerners and Americans →

MDC mourns the passing of Andrea Harris, a pioneer born into the Civil Rights Movement who founded the Institute of Minority Economic Development in Durham and helped thousands of women and people of color across North Carolina build their own businesses. She was 72.Continue reading MDC mourns the passing of Andrea Harris →

John L.S. Simpkins, a constitutional law scholar and former Obama Administration counsel who has played a leadership role in advancing an equity agenda for women and people of color in the South, was selected by the MDC Board to be the organization’s next president. He succeeds David L. Dodson, who is retiring June 30 after 21 years as President.Continue reading South Carolinian John L.S. Simpkins selected new president of MDC →