Last week, leaders from across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina came together for our first Rural Development Community of Practice Convening.

We built relationships. We grounded ourselves in shared purpose. We connected the legacy of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray to the call for leadership today. We aligned our theory of change. We listened intensely to rural partners closest to community realities. And we left with clarity, commitment, and collective direction. When organizations come together across geography and strategy — rooted in trust and equity — powerful things happen.