The town of Clarksdale, Mississippi is situated in the Mississippi Delta region, an area which consists of portions of several states that border on the Mississippi River.

The State of Mississippi ranks 50th in the U.S. in terms of health, economics, and education, and the Delta region of the state ranks below the rest of the state in each of these categories.  In the past, many efforts have been made to bring together key members of the Clarksdale community to put programs in place that would begin to meet the various development needs of the community.  While some of these efforts have been successful, most have not.

Our work

Step 1:  Background research on consensus building literature as applied to community development efforts.

Step 2:  Intensive interviews with activists, scholars, professionals, and community members from the Clarksdale area to test the feasibility of a “consensus-based,” community driven model of development for the Clarksdale community, and a search for examples of such consensus-driven community initiatives in the past.

Step 3:  Development and delivery of a robust training program for community activists, complete with a “train-the-trainer” component for use by future community organizers.

Final Product

Comprehensive training manual, complete with illustrative materials and additional resources, for use by the Delta Directions Consortium.  Students will travel to Clarksdale to deliver this training once for a group of pre-selected future trainers and organizers.