Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald is the Regional Administrator for the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Economic & Social Justice (SRBWI). SRBWI operates in 77 counties across the Black Belts of Alabama, Southwest Georgia and the Mississippi Delta. She is also the principal for an innovative project, the Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) Initiative, which operates in more than 12 Mississippi school districts. Ms. Fitzgerald received the Bachelor of Science degree from Tougaloo College, Master of Arts in Rural Development from Antioch University Midwest with additional studies at the University of California at Davis; and honorary membership to Pi Alpha Alpha, the National Honor Society for Public Affairs & Administration from Mississippi State University. She contributed to the Covenant with Black America introduced by Tavis Smiley, and numerous news stories by the New York Times, Huffington Post, the BBC, The Guardian, National Public Radio, Commercial Appeal and NBC National and local affiliates as well as other broadcast and print media. Ms. Fitzgerald is the proud mother of four children, Rashida, Yusef, Layla and Joi.
The fund now welcomes funding from a broad array of donors to continue to support rural Black community self determination throughout the Black Belt region.