The Delta Grassroots Caucus (DGC) is a broad coalition of grassroots leaders in the eight-state Delta region. DGC is also a founding partner of the Economic Equality Caucus,
which advocates for economic equality across the USA.

Latest Draft of Delta Caucus Agenda for Nov. 16-17, 2023 Meeting at Little Rock Comfort Inn Presidential

Posted on November 09, 2023 at 04:57 PM

Delta Grassroots Caucus Nov. 9, 2023

Latest Draft of Agenda of Delta Grassroots Caucus, Nov. 16-17, 2023 in Little Rock

Below is the latest draft of the agenda for the Nov. 16-17, 2023 Delta Caucus in Little Rock at the Comfort Inn Presidential Dean/MacArthur Room.

Address of Comfort Inn Presidential Dean/MacArthur Room is 707 Interstate 30, Little Rock, AR 72202

Lee Powell has a bad case of the flu and can’t make it this time around. We have asked Vice President Blanche Hunt of Arkansas Northeastern College, Billy McFarland of the nonprofit ESP Police Support League in Alabama, and a couple of other partners to help move along the speakers, just in case a speaker or panel goes on too long, although with our brilliantly concise speakers we can’t imagine that happening!

If you just follow the order of the agenda we don’t need much if any moderating.

Note: We do not have long, formal introductions to save time and avoid unnecessary formality, especially for a smaller-scale group of about 40 people or so. We would prefer for speakers to briefly introduce themselves.

This meeting is important as we try to get people back in the habit of attending in-person conferences after the hiatus caused by the pandemic.

We plan to return to a larger-scale conference at the Clinton Library (if available) or another prominent Little Rock venue in the spring of 2023, date and time TBD in late 2023 or early 2024.

We will follow the order of speakers and times as listed on the agenda. If anyone needs to move the speakers along, we have asked a few people including Vice President Blanche Hunt of Arkansas Northeastern College and a couple of others to just diplomatically ask the speakers to move ahead.

There is some flexibility built into the schedule and we don’t have to stick exactly to the agenda by the second, although we need to be close to it. Thanks—Lee Powell, Delta Caucus ​​_

Delta Grassroots Caucus Agenda

Nov. 16-17, 2023 Meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas

Comfort Inn Presidential Dean/MacArthur Room

Opening Session, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.–Substantive Session; then informal networking and dinner, 7 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. or so

Vice President Blanche Hunt, Arkansas Northeastern College, general moderator

5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.–Hunger, Nutrition and Smaller-Scale Farmers Initiatives

5:30 p.m. to 5;40 p.m.–Dorothy Grady Scarbrough, Mississippians Engaged in Greener Agriculture (MEGA), Shelby, Mississippi

5:40 to 5:50 p.m. p.m.–Heather Coller, Engagement Coordinator, Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Sikeston, Missouri

5:50 to 6 p.m.–Speakers regarding the in-door, year-round fresh produce project in Eudora Arkansas

6 p.m. to 6:10 p.m.–Joyce Elliott, Director of Get Loud Arkansas nonprofit and former senator, speaking about the LEARNS act and its impact on education in Arkansas

6:10 p.m. to 7 p.m.–Best Practices/Nonprofits in the Greater Delta

6: 10 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.–Billy McFarland, TSP Police Support League, Alabama

6:20 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.–Michelle Monse, King Foundation, operating in Arkansas and Texas

6:30 p.m. to 6:40 p.nAngela Scott, Memphis Inter-Faith Association (MIFA) based in Memphis, Tennessee

6:40 to 6:50 p.m.–Joel Evans, Delta Area Economic Opportunity Commission, based in Sikeston, Missouri

6:50 to 7 p.m.–Fredric Smith, East Arkansas Enterprise Community, based in Forrest City, Arkansas

7 p.m. to 8 p.m.–informal networking dinner at Comfort Inn Presidential Dean/MacArthur Room

Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, 9 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.

9 a.m. to 9:50 a.m.–Economic Development from Viewpoint of Local Elected Officials in the Delta

9 a.m. to 9:10 a.m.–Mayor Chuck Espy, Clarksdale, Mississippi

9 a.m. to 9”20 a.m.–Mayor Jaylen Smith of Earle, Arkansas

9:20 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.–Mayor Ora Stevens, Marianna, Arkansas

9:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.–Mayor Melisa Logan, Blytheville, Arkansas

9:40 to 9:50 a.m.–Mississippi County Judge John Alan Nelson

9:50 a.m. to 10:05 a.m.–Delta Heritage Tourism: The Sultana steam boat disaster

Judge John Fogleman (ret). The Sultana Disaster Museum is a project of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, and John Fogleman is its president.

10:05 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.–Long-Term Perspectives on the Growth of the Delta Regional Authority

Wilson Golden, Presidential Appointee in the Clinton Administration; one of the managers of President Clinton’s Delta Regional Initiative along with Lee Powell and the late Al Eisenberg

Mike Marshall, former Alternate Federal Co-Chairman of the Delta Regional Authority

Questions and discussion about the DRA

10;30—10:45 a.m.–former Gov. JIm Folsom, Jr., of Alabama, on economic development for the Delta and Alabama Black Belt

10:45 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.–Education and Workforce Development in the Greater Delta

10:45 a.m. to 10:55 a.m.–Cody Behles, Director of Innovation and Research Development, University of Memphis

10:55 a.m. to 11:05 a.m.–President Chris Heigel and Vice President Blanche Hunt, Arkansas Northeastern College

11:05 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.–Brian Schweiger, National Park Service Little Rock Central High Historic Site

11:15 a.m. to 11: 30 a.m.–Ali Noland, attorney who filed lawsuit against Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ LEARNS education act in Arkansas

If time, we will have discussion. We have reserved time until noon so if there is discussion on this subject we should have some time.