Delta Grassroots Caucus Events

Credit Michael Hibblen/ KUAR News, Arkansas Public Radio; Former President Bill Clinton speaking to the Delta Grassroots Caucus on May 2, 2013, at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, Little Rock

U. S. Senator John Boozman, Arkansas, at a Delta Grassroots Caucus meeting at the US Capitol

Brad Cole, Executive Director of the Municipal League of Illinois; previously a senior aide to former Republican US Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, earlier Mayor of Carbondale, Illinois, veteran Delta regional advocate, speaking at the Delta regional conference in West Memphis, Arkansas on April 26, 2019.

President Bill Clinton makes a comment to Delta Caucus Director Lee Powell at a meeting in Blytheville, Arkansas (in the northeast Arkansas Delta) on Nov. 2, 2014

The Delta Caucus would like to pay tribute to the late, great U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, a powerful force in the US Senate for decades and a champion for the Delta. Sen. Cochran passed away on May 30, 2019. He spoke to the Delta Caucus on many occasions over the years (he is pictured above speaking to a Caucus event on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC) and his thoughtful, courteous and bipartisan leadership will be sorely missed.

Marcie Lawson, Executive Director, Sikeston, Missouri Regional Chamber and Area Economic Development Corporation, speaking at the Delta regional conference in West Memphis, Arkansas on April 26, 2019.

Alan Gumbel, Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce, Memphis, Tennessee, speaking at the Delta regional conference in West Memphis, Arkansas on April 26, 2019.

Mayor Shirley Washington of Pine Bluff, AR, speaking to the Delta Caucus at the Arkansas Capitol Rotunda in 2017.

Delta Caucus Commends Choice of Louisiana Leader Leslie Durham as Alternate Federal Co-Chairwoman of DRA

Posted on November 09, 2021 at 12:52 PM

“Delta Caucus Commends President Biden’s Choice of Leslie Durham as Alternate Federal Co-Chairwoman of the DRA”

RELEASE: cONTACT Lee Powell, Delta Caucus Executive Director, (202) 360-6347

The Delta Grassroots Caucus commends President Biden’s choice of Leslie Durham of Louisiana as Alternate Federal Co-Chairwoman of the Delta Regional Authority.

“Leslie Durham is a great choice for Alternate Federal Co-Chairwoman at the DRA. She is the first woman and the first Louisiana leader to serve in one of the Presidentially-appointed federal posts at the agency, and she has many years of distinguished service in regional community and economic development,” said Lee Powell, Delta Caucus Executive Director.

“Ms. Durham did a great job of participating at Delta Caucus activities over the years, and her service as Gov. John Bel Edwards’ DRA Designee for Louisiana and many other important posts over the years gives her great preparation to serve at the DRA,” Powell said.

Born and raised in Tensas Parish, Louisiana, Durham attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe, and since January 2016 has served as Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards’s DRA Designee.

She previously worked for Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco as Director of Renewal Communities and Delta Regional Authority Designee.

Durham is a double graduate of DRA’s Delta Leadership Institute Executive Academy, both in its inaugural year of 2006 and again in 2017, in which she also completed the Authentic Leadership Executive Education Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

On July 31, 2021, the Louisiana Municipal Association awarded Durham with the LMA President’s Award for her years of commitment to Louisiana Local Governments.

In addition to her role as Louisiana Designee to the Delta Regional Authority, Governor Edwards appointed Durham to serve on other important bodies on key Delta issues:

–Broadband for Everyone in Louisiana (BEL) Commission, Chairperson

–Rural Water Infrastructure Committee (RWIC), Chairperson Rural Revitalization Commission (RRC)

–Jobs for American Graduates Louisiana Board of Directors (JAG-La)

–Delta Agriculture Research and Sustainability District