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In an NPR (Nonprofit Quarterly) essay based on a talk delivered to the 2018 fellowship class of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) at Penn Center in St. Helena Island, South Carolina last month, Dr. Shirley Sherrod discusses the struggle in the South for civil rights and the ups, downs, and rebirth of New Communities.
Dr. Sherrod is the cofounder of the New Communities Inc., the nation's first community land trust. She shared her stories as a civil rights activist, her experience as a a former USDA Rural Development director for the state of Georgia, and her founding of New Communities.
In 1999, Shirley and her husband, Charles Sherrod, joined the class action plaintiffs in the lawsuit Pigford v. Glickman. In 2010, Sherrod was wrongfully dismissed from USDA. In 2012, in collaboration with Catherine Whitney, she authored a biography of her life, The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear.
To date, Sherrod and New Communities are still organizing farmers and doing training, with a focus on women. They have developed a worker-owned sewing co-op and developed other organizations with a commercial kitchen.
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Foundation: California Community Foundation, San Diego Foundation
The San Diego Foundation is calling for proposals for its 2024 Community Scholars Initiative grant program, which aims to fund "high-impact projects that support students with disabilities, foster...more
When it comes to green technology, the Nordics stand out, with Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the US making up the top 10 of the Organization for...more
It's not every day that a hospital is named the nation's top medical facility, but that's exactly what's happened at Alabama's Children's of Alabama. The Children's of Alabama Clinical Scholars...more
Andrew's Church in Yardley, Pa., is looking for a part-time music minister to help "enrich the joyful and dynamic worship that is the heart of our congregational life," according to its...more
When it comes to corporate social responsibility, it's all about the people. But when it comes to employee volunteering, it's all about the people. The Los Angeles Times takes a look at how...more
When Noble Research Institute was looking for a new CEO last year, it decided it was time for a change. So the nonprofit turned to an unusual method of project management: the Agile method of...more
"This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war." That from Erin...more
For more than 20 years, Kendra Scott has raised money for children with critical illnesses through its Kendra Gives Back campaign. Now, the lifestyle brand is joining forces with Make-A-Wish,...more
"She nails her job every day, but it's her compassion that really stands out," says the "heart and soul" of a fundraising team for the American Red Cross in Kansas and Oklahoma. Tara Burnett is...more
Alyssa Zhu won the top prize at the University of Southern California's annual Grodins Symposium for her "groundbreaking" brain imaging research. Her presentation, "The podium Curves For...more
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Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Hugh Jackman: Fair Trade Entrepreneur
Renowned actor, Hugh Jackman, talks about how he started becoming a fair trade entrepreneur. Jackman is constantly building up ideas and solutions to help small coffee growers get good prices outside the massive coffee industry. His business, Laughing Man Worldwide, reinvests 100% of its profits in its partnerships with farmers.
