About Us

The Center for Ideas, Equity & Transformative Change is a resource hub of sustainable innovation.

We provide strategic support to people and communities that are committed to responsible building of power through cultural change.

We are fully invested in supporting the self determination of indigenous, black and brown communities in their knowledge and cultural productions that uphold self- assertions, self- reliance  and self- determination.

We facilitate the sustainable, equitable and just impacting of local/regional economies and system change. We are committed to racial equity, human rights, economic justice, environmental justice, health equity, food sovereignty, labor rights and ethical leadership.

Our theory of change is rooted in the framework of social equality that centers health, wellness and healing of peoples and places as informed by the pedagogies of the oppressed from the Global South, the Gulf South and the Deep South, which are home to us. 

We make sustainable impact on individuals, institutions and infrastructure across the Deep South with our values centered expertise.

Individuals: We are instrumental in developing food systems leaders in MS, and across the country through our partnership work with MS Food Justice Collaborative, the MS Food Policy Council, the Center for MS Food Systems and Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Liveable Future – Community of Learning and Practice. We support the dignity of community cultural workers through our giving strategy with our partner, the Deep South Solidarity Fund and Another Gulf Is Possible We are building a strategy of community media making through the Gulf South Media Institute. 

Institutions: We support municipalities in applying data to accessing resources through our partnership with National League of Cities. We provide city leadership with strategic cultural support to engage in narrative change through our Southern Futures Project documentary work in partnership with the City of Birmingham. We support the strategic development and sustainability of media, arts, culture and food systems institutions such as FLEET Creative, Black Dirt Collective and Earth Bound. We partner with media institutions such as Red Squared Productions in producing culture and knowledge that informs narrative change about Mississippi. 

Infrastructure: We support the development of  people and state of the art, climate through strategic resource generation through Deep South Solidarity Fund, Center for MS Food Systems and Delta Commons. 

Data science, cultural strategy, institutional capacity building, resource generation, relationship building, leadership development, equitable and just policy, and community centered economic development are our areas of expertise. 

Who We Are

Lacey Glencora Loftin

Lacey Glencora Loftin

Data Scientist

Lacey areas of expertise Data Science, Human Rights, and Conflict Management

Lacey Glencora Loftin

Data Scientist

Noel Didla

Noel Didla

Cultural Worker

Noel’s work includes Food Policy, Cultural Strategy, Resource Generation, Human Rights, Food Systems Leaders

Noel Didla

Cultural Worker

Alex Lawson

Alex Lawson

Economist

Alex's work includes Economic Development, Economic Justice, Community Engagement, and Resource Generation

Alex Lawson

Economist

Our Processes

We engage in deep political education, immersive learning, unlearning and professional development to be responsible experts and supports to our partners and collaborators.

We intentionally listen to our partners to develop a responsible understanding of change they deserve. We believe that people and places are sacred and experts of their economic conditions. We, therefore, develop an analysis of change and power by being fully informed of the truths and legacies of the communities we support. We are committed to principled struggle with our partners to nurture sustainable innovation.

We will use participatory research processes to evaluate ourselves, evaluate the strategic plans we develop, the programmatic structures we design, and the processes we engage in with the communities. We believe in moving at the speed of trust, value alignment and accountability.

The Center for Ideas, Equity, and Transformative Change has data science, leadership development, policy, cultural strategy, narrative change and community centered economic development expertise. We visualize, and culturally interpret data for our partners to access resources. The Center believes in being accountable to the self-determination and cultural assertions of our grassroots communities and we believe in grounding and upholding the truths and legacies of peoples and places in how we responsibly support the imagining and build ingof power through narrative work, arts, culture and media work. We believe in practicing economic justice and ethics in knowledge and cultural production. We honor community wisdom through just compensation and by equitable crediting all wisdom givers as knowledge producers in our productions.

What We Provide

Resource Generation

We have generated 2.5 million dollars in covid rapid response to communities across the Gulf South. We supported the distribution of 3 million plus in strategic support to communities across the Deep South.

Cultural Strategy Development

We support the development of the 1) MS Food Justice Collaborative and the MS Food Systems Fellowship cultural strategies 2) Another Gulf Is Possible’s cultural strategy for the Gulf South and Global South just transitions and 3) Center for Livable Future’s food policy network racial equity strategy 4) Footprint Farms’ cultural strategy.

Data Science

We provided data visualization and civic engagement mapping support to the Winter Institute. We provide data visualization support to municipalities through our partnership with National League of Cities.

Economic Development

We provided support to NCAT Gulf States in the coastal community economic development project. We partner with Delta Commons in their community economic development work in the Delta regions of MS and AR.

We have developed the Southern Economic Corridor framework through which we are developing partnerships across the southern cities to engage in cultural arts and economic development.

Narrative Change

We partner with Red Squared in executive producing the documentary, “Promised Land: A Story About MoundBayou”

We partner with the City of Birmingham in the Southern Futures Project documentary production, “The South Got Somethin To Say”

Relationship Building

We support the strengthening of partner relationships within the MS Food Justice Collaborative, and engage in building, sustaining relationships within the MS Food Systems Fellowship and the development of the Center for MS Food Systems.

We engaged in strengthening indigenous, black and brown relationships across the state and the Gulf South through Another Gulf Is Possible.

We deepen relationships with partners across AL, MS, GA and LA through the Deep South Solidarity Fund.

Capacity Building

We are engaged in building the capacity of Food Systems thinkers across the Delta, Choctaw, Coastal and Central MS regions.

Equitable & Just Policy

Through our partnership with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for a Livable Future-Community of Learning and Practice project, we are developing 30 food policy advocates and leaders in 15 cities across the country.

Leadership Development

Through our Gulf South Media Institute and partnership with FLEET Creative, we are invested in resourcing and nurturing the growth of leaders in the arts and cultural world.

Our Partners

Contact Us