Women for Progress of Mississippi  ·  1st Tuesdays Lunch & Learn

Leading
with Purpose

A Tribute to Mississippi Changemakers

A Conversation with Community Changemakers Transforming Economic Security for Women, Families & Community

📅 March 3, 2026 🌟 1st Tuesdays Series 📍 Jackson, Mississippi
Meet the Changemakers
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About This Event

Ten organizations. One shared conviction.
The strength of Mississippi lives in its people.

This month's Lunch & Learn celebrates organizations at the front lines of economic security — working every day to ensure that women, families, and communities across Jackson and the State of Mississippi have the resources, access, and opportunity they deserve. These are the changemakers transforming Mississippi from the ground up.

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Recognized Organizations

Changemakers Serving Mississippi

Each organization serves a specific population whose progress strengthens us all

01

MS AI Collaborative

Technology & Workforce
Populations Served K–12 students, educators, small business owners, and workforce participants across urban and rural Mississippi — with 95% of participants from backgrounds typically excluded from the digital economy. Why It Matters As AI reshapes every industry, Mississippi risks being left behind without deliberate, inclusive investment in digital literacy. MSAIC builds a statewide pipeline from classroom to careers, connecting Mississippians — especially those from underserved communities — to high-demand, high-wage jobs of tomorrow. For Jackson and the state, this means retaining local talent and keeping economic growth at home.
02

MS Low Income Child Care Initiative

Working Mothers & Families
Populations Served Low-income working mothers and single moms, child care providers, and families navigating Mississippi's child care system — particularly those at the intersection of racial and gender inequity. Why It Matters No mother should have to choose between the job she needs and the child she loves. When women can't afford child care, they leave the workforce — weakening families and the economy. MLICCI's advocacy secures funding, reforms policy, and connects single mothers to higher-wage employment, directly building economic security for Jackson's working families.
03

Magnolia Medical Foundation

Health Equity
Populations Served High-risk and underserved individuals and communities in Jackson — including women, families facing chronic illness (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke), and pregnant and postpartum mothers. Why It Matters Mississippi consistently ranks last in health outcomes nationally. MMF provides accessible, culturally competent preventive health education and screenings to those least likely to receive them. Healthy communities are productive communities — addressing social determinants of health directly fuels workforce participation and family stability across the state.
04

League of Women Voters, Jackson

Civic Participation
Populations Served All citizens — with particular focus on historically disenfranchised voters, women, and communities with limited access to civic education and voter resources. Why It Matters Democracy works best when everyone participates. In a state with a complex history around voting access, the League of Women Voters ensures that every Jackson and Mississippi resident understands their rights, has access to the ballot, and can hold elected officials accountable. Civic power is the foundation of all other change.
05

Six Dimensions

Black Maternal Health
Populations Served Black women and birthing people in Mississippi, birth workers (doulas, midwives, lactation professionals), and communities facing devastating maternal and infant mortality disparities. Why It Matters Black women in Mississippi face dramatically higher maternal mortality rates than their white counterparts. Six Dimensions — a certified Black-owned, women-led public health firm — tackles this crisis through community-based research, doula capacity building, and systemic advocacy. Keeping Black mothers alive and healthy is an urgent moral and economic imperative for Jackson and the entire state.
06

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Civil Rights & Justice
Populations Served Marginalized and vulnerable populations facing hate, discrimination, and systemic injustice — including communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those within the criminal justice system across the South. Why It Matters Economic security cannot exist without civil rights protections. The SPLC uses litigation, advocacy, and education to dismantle systems that perpetuate inequality in Mississippi and across the South. When discrimination is challenged and civil rights are protected, every Mississippian and every family gains a fairer chance to thrive.
07

Working Together Jackson

Community Power & Organizing
Populations Served Jackson residents across racial, religious, and economic lines — with particular attention to second-chance job seekers, Black-owned businesses, working-class neighborhoods, and communities underserved by city infrastructure. Why It Matters Founded in 2012 with more than 35 member institutions, WTJ builds the collective power needed for Jackson to hold its government accountable and advocate for living-wage jobs, infrastructure, and contract justice for Black businesses. Strong civic institutions create a stronger, more equitable city and state economy.
08

Hope Credit Union & Hope Enterprise Corporation

Economic Justice & Finance
Populations Served Low- and moderate-income residents, small business owners, home buyers, and rural and economically distressed communities across the Deep South — those historically shut out of mainstream banking and capital access. Why It Matters Without access to fair financial services, families and businesses cannot grow. Founded in 1995 as a church-inspired alternative to predatory lending in Jackson, HOPE has generated over $3.6 billion in financing benefiting more than 2 million people. In Jackson and across Mississippi, HOPE demonstrates that economic justice and community development go hand in hand.
09

MS Coding Academy

Tech Workforce Development
Populations Served Mississippians seeking entry into high-demand technology careers — including youth, career changers, and individuals from communities historically underrepresented in tech — through accelerated coding and AI-driven training programs. Why It Matters The technology gap threatens to deepen Mississippi's economic disparities. MS Coding Academy creates pathways to high-paying, in-demand careers for Mississippians who might otherwise be left behind by the digital economy. Keeping tech talent local strengthens Jackson and sustains statewide economic growth for generations.
10

Ready Nation MS

Early Childhood & Business Advocacy
Populations Served Infants, toddlers, and young children; working parents struggling with child care access; and Mississippi's business community — which loses productivity and talent when the child care system fails. Why It Matters Mississippi's Early Childhood Investment Council, housed within Ready Nation MS, mobilizes business leaders to champion early childhood investments as an economic issue — not just a family issue. Quality child care enables parents — especially mothers — to remain in the workforce, strengthens Mississippi's talent pipeline, and builds the future workforce the state's economy depends on.

Together, These Organizations Are Changing Mississippi

From the delivery room to the boardroom, from the ballot box to the broadband connection — the work of these ten organizations touches every dimension of what it means to be secure, healthy, and empowered in Mississippi.

Jackson is the capital city. It is also a city where the median household income is among the lowest of any major U.S. city, where maternal mortality rates represent a public health emergency, and where the digital divide threatens to widen with each passing year. These changemakers are not waiting for someone else to solve it. They are solving it now.

"Economic security for women is economic security for everyone. When mothers thrive, children thrive. When children thrive, Mississippi thrives."

The Stakes

Why This Work Matters for Mississippi

Mississippi consistently faces significant challenges — and these organizations face them head-on.

Women's Economic Security

Mississippi has one of the highest rates of women in poverty in the nation. Organizations like MLICCI, Six Dimensions, and Hope Credit Union directly remove the financial barriers that keep women from achieving economic independence.

The Child Care Crisis

When child care is unaffordable or unavailable, mothers leave the workforce — and Mississippi loses. Ready Nation MS and MLICCI fight to make child care a statewide economic priority, not just a family burden.

Health Equity & Maternal Mortality

Mississippi ranks last in health outcomes nationally. Black women face dramatically higher maternal mortality rates. Magnolia Medical Foundation and Six Dimensions are on the front lines of reversing this crisis.

The Technology Future

Mississippi cannot afford to be left behind as AI and technology reshape the economy. MS AI Collaborative and MS Coding Academy ensure that every Mississippian — not just a privileged few — has a seat at the table.

Access to Capital & Justice

Without fair banking, business ownership remains out of reach. Without civil rights enforcement, inequity persists. Hope Credit Union and the SPLC are essential pillars of a just economic order in Mississippi.

Civic Power & Community Voice

The League of Women Voters and Working Together Jackson ensure that the voices of everyday Mississippians — not just the powerful — shape the policies and decisions that govern their lives.

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"Leading with Purpose" is not just a theme —
it is a reality being built in Mississippi every single day.

Women for Progress of Mississippi honors these organizations for their courage, their tenacity, and their unwavering commitment to a Mississippi where every woman, every family, and every community has the opportunity to flourish.

Join us in celebrating these changemakers and the populations they serve — because the progress of Mississippi begins with the people willing to fight for it.

Women for Progress of Mississippi  ·  March 3, 2026