Our Projects

Oak Foundation and MDC partnered to launch the Oak-MDC Emerging Leaders Fellowship (ELF) to support young leaders interested in social change, offering them an opportunity for practical experience as they learn how philanthropy can promote equitable systems-change.

The Investing in Leaders of Color (ILOC) Fellowship is a one-year leadership- and capacity-building initiative to acknowledge and support the work of twelve leaders of color who serve communities of color throughout the Carolinas.

The Autry Fellowship Program builds networks of emerging leaders who will address social issues related to equity in the South. Each year, MDC recruits a talented and passionate recent college graduate for this one-year Fellowship.

MDC is working in collaboration with the United Philanthropy Forum (UPF) to strengthen and expand philanthropy’s impact in promoting opportunity, health and equity in rural and Tribal communities, with particular focus on the intersections of racial, geographic and economic equity.

The North Carolina Inclusive Disaster Recovery Network (NCIDR) is a collaborative of public, private, non-profit, and faith organizations seeking avenues for community voice and equitable access to resources in a disaster recovery system.

MDC offers an internship to honor the late Dan Broun, a staff member who championed place-based strategies to improve outcomes for marginalized people in rural communities in the South.

Rural Forward identifies, strengthens, supports leaders to make rural counties healthier and thriving.

The Build Up Initiative brings the innovative Integrated Services Delivery Network approach to local communities and builds up community capacity for using Integrated Services Delivery (ISD).

Sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, SPRD is a network of more than 20 state and local organizations working to tackle consumer debt issues that perpetuate wealth and income inequality.

Launched in 2016, the Network for Southern Economic Mobility (NSEM) is a group of Southern communities committed to increasing upward economic mobility for youth and young adults in the lowest income brackets.

MDC, United Way of Greater Greensboro (UWGG), and community stakeholders partnered to design and build a “Family Economic Success Ecosystem” to empower vulnerable households out of poverty and towards economic success.

In partnership with Oak Foundation, LENS-NC operates at the intersection of race, educational equity, and learning differences to advance stronger policy and practice by building a learning and action network across North Carolina.

MDC serves as the activating agency for the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust’s Great Expectations early childhood initiative, a $40 million, 10-year investment focused on ensuring children in Forsyth County enter kindergarten ready to learn and leave set for success in school and life–regardless of their race, location, or economic status.