Team Member BEN BURKETT Fund Advisor Ben Burkett is a long-time advocate for Black farmers in the South and has spent the last 40 years as a farmer and cooperative organizer in Petal, Mississippi. To fight the ingrained discrimination against Black…

Team Member CAROL BLACKMON Fund Advisor Carol Blackmon serves as Senior Consultant and Human Rights Coordinator for SRBWI, where she trains community leaders on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ms. Blackmon also serves as the Senior Organizing Manager for Mississippi…

Team Member CARLTON TURNER Fund Advisor Carlton Turner is an artist, agriculturalist, arts advocate, policy shaper, lecturer, consultant, and facilitator. Carlton is the co-founder and co-director of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (Sipp Culture). Sipp Culture uses arts and agriculture…

Team Member CARRIE FULGHUM Fund Advisor Carrie F. Fulghum is passionate about working with the residents of Gainesville to preserve its history and to improve the quality of life for all. An accomplished strategist, her vision and expertise have helped to…

Team Member CORNELIUS BLANDING Fund Memeber Cornelius Blanding has over 25 years of experience serving black farmers, landowners, and limited resource cooperatives as well as rural communities in the South and internationally.  He has worked as a small business development &…

Team Member DARREN BEACHEM Fund Advisor Darren Beachem is a forester, agriculturalist, and farmer who serves as the State Coordinator for the Alabama State Association of Cooperatives, responsible for implementing programs and activities focused on cooperative economic development, land retention, and…

Team Member ED WHITFIELD Fund Advisor Ed Whitfield is a social critic, writer and community activist who has lived in Greensboro since 1970 and now lives in Clarksdale MS. He was co-Managing Director of the Fund for Democratic Communities, a limited-life…