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.

Zoom link info--Registration deadline is May 4; & Draft Agenda for May 13, 2021 Delta Zoom Conference

Posted on April 26, 2021 at 12:23 PM

For Delta regional conference attendees:

You need to register by acknowledging receipt of the Zoom registration link below to LeePowell@delta.comcastbiz.net.

You have to have the Zoom link in order to see and hear the speakers. PLEASE RSVP TO THIS EMAIL.

Delta Caucus partners are invited to the Greater Delta Conference by Zoom webinar on May 13, 2021.

Morning session on May 13 is 9 a.m. to noon and afternoon session is 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. CENTRAL TIME.

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qiq4MiwLSTORN0mH4CRgmA

Please note: You have to copy and paste or type in this link–it is NOT a direct link.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We want to increase the number of people who will be able to hear the great presentations of the Delta regional speakers.

Registration deadline is May 4, 2021 close of business for the May 13 Delta Zoom Conference, so please pay the $40 registration fees if you have not already done so.

The fastest and easiest way to register is to pay the $40 registration fees on the website at www.mdgc.us and go to the PayPal link at the top of the site that says “Donate.”

If you would prefer to pay by check, please make out the check to “Delta Caucus” and mail to:

Delta Caucus

5030 Purslane Place

Waldorf, MD 20601

Latest draft ot fhe agenda is below; Lee Powell, Executive Director, Delta Caucus (202) 360-6347.

Delta Caucus Regional Conference by Zoom May 13, 2021–Latest Draft of Agenda

MORNING SESSION—9 A.M. TO NOON

9 a.m to 10:30 a.m.–Community, Health and Economic Issues in the Pandemic

9 a.m.—Introduction—Caucus Director Lee Powell

9:05 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.—Dr. Susan Ward Jones, CEO, MD, East Arkansas Family Health Center, headquarters in West Memphis, Arkansas–on the vital work of a major health care organization in east Arkansas

9:15—9:22 a.m.—Mayor Flora Simon of Dumas, Arkansas—community, health and economic issues in the Dumas area in the pandemic

9:22-9:30 a.m.—Ateca Foreman, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s appointee as Delta Regional Authority Alternate for Arkansas, Deputy Chief of Staff of Internal Operations for Gov. Hutchinson

9:30—9:36 a.m–.Brad Cole, Executive Director, Municipal League of Illinois, Delta Caucus senior partner and veteran Delta regional advocate

9:36—9;42 a.m.–Infrastructure—Wilson Golden, former US Dept. of Transportation official and Mississippi native

9:42—9:50 a.m.–Al Cross, Director, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, University of Kentucky

9:50 a.m. to 10 a.m.–Mayor Errick Simmons, Greenville, Mississippi—community, health and economic issues in the pandemic for one of the largest Delta heartland communities

We have invited Congressman Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the US House Committee on Homeland Security. If he is able to schedule this we have asked Mayor Errick Simmons to give a brief introduction

(INVITED) Congressman French Hill, Arkansas

10:30 a.m. to noon–Hunger and Nutrition during the Pandemic

10:30—10:40 a.m–Stacy Dean, President Biden’s appointee as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

Question and answer or two

10:45—10:52 a.m.–Tomiko Townley, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Director of Advocacy

10:52—11 a.m.–Lisa Church, Chief Advancement Officer Southeast Missouri Food Bank, based in Sikeston, Missouri and serving the southeast Missouri area

11—11:07 a.m.–Paige Vance, Impact Operations Manager, Second Harvest Food Bank, Feeding America, based in New Orleans and serving southern Louisiana

11:07—11:15 a.m.–Millie Atkins, Delta Caucus senior partner and veteran Delta regional leader, on hunger issues in northern Louisiana

11:15—11:25–Joel Berg, CEO, Hunger Free America, national hunger and poverty organization with headquarters in New York

11:25—11:40 a.m.–Shannon Maynard, Executive Director, Congressional Hunger Center, Washington, DC and Curtis Hills, Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, Congressional Hunger Center, Washington, DC (Mr. Hills is originally from Mississippi)

Question and answer or two

11:45 a.m.—Doris Benford, Executive Director, Mississippi Action for Community Education, nonprofit promoting education and workforce development in the Delta

AFTERNOON SESSION—1 P.M. TO 2:30 P.M.

“Best Practices in Regional Development in the Delta”

1 p.m.–1:10 p.m.–Diversity and other key issues for the Delta region, Caucus Director Lee Powell and Caucus senior adviser Millie Atkins

1:10–1:18 p.,.–Clint O’Neal, Arkansas Economic Development Commission Deputy Director for Global Business, and Delta Regional Authority Designee for Arkansas

1:18–1:28 p.m.–Representative Reginald Murdock, Marianna, Arkansas—community and economic development in east Arkansas

1:26–1:35 p.m.–Senator Dave Wallace, Leachville, Arkansas—on his efforts to establish a state Earned Income Tax Credit program in Arkansas

1:33–1:44 p.m.–Mayor Sheldon Day, Thomasville, Alabama—long-time mayor of a heartland Alabama Black Belt community noted for major community and economic development initiatives

1:44–1:52 p.m.–Kyle Miller, Delta Cultural Center, Helena, Arkansas—Delta Heritage Tourism in Arkansas

1:52–2 p.m.–Alan Gumbel, Executive Director for the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce, Memphis, Tennessee, veteran Delta regional advocate including the Clinton administration’s Delta Regional Initiative and the Lower Mississippi Development Commission of the late 1980s

2 p.m.–2:08 p.m.–Sheila Smith, TS Police Support League, Greene County, Alabama—nonprofit raising funds for law enforcement officers’ needs and other community projects in the Alabama Black Belt

2:08–2:15 p.m.–Billy McFarland, TS Police Support League, Greene County, Alabama—veteran Delta/Alabama Black Belt regional advocate

A question and answer or two