MDC is a private, nonprofit organization located in Chapel Hill, NC. MDC's mission is to help organizations and communities close the gaps that separate people from opportunity. They have been working to create positive change in disadvantaged communities for 40 years--by conducting research and demonstrating effective programs on the community level. They focus on three areas: education, economic and workforce development, and asset building and strategic philanthropy. [1]
MDC's organizing principle is:
Education + Work + Assets = the Pathway to Opportunity
History
MDC was established in 1967 by the North Carolina Fund, with the support of the state's civic and business leadership and the Ford Foundation, to help the state transition from a segregated, agricultural work force to an integrated, industrial work force. The North Carolina Fund was established in 1963 by then Gov. Terry Sanford as a five-year program to address the root causes of poverty in the state through the creation of 11 community action agencies and other community initiatives. During the summers of 1964 and 1965, the North Carolina Volunteers Program created teams of African American and white college students to work together and show that communities could be stronger if their members reached across lines of race and class to solve problems of poverty.
Also by example, the North Carolina Fund served as a model and catalyst for such national programs as Head Start, Americorps VISTA, and the Community Action movement. Both the North Carolina Fund and the federal Office of Economic Opportunity insisted that the people being served by the programs be involved in community program decisions. Community coalitions developed in low-income neighborhoods. Protests and boycotts called attention to injustices by landlords, merchants, and service agencies. Hand in hand with the Civil Rights Movement, the war on poverty gave voice to long-ignored sectors of our communities. The North Carolina Fund made final grants in 1969 and created MDC as one of three spin off corporations. [2]
Current Projects
Education
Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count
A national initiative to help more community college students succeed, particularly students of color and low-income students. The initiative works on multiple fronts — including efforts on campuses and in research, public engagement and public policy — and emphasizes the use of data to drive change. Achieving the Dream was launched in 2004, with funding provided by Lumina Foundation for Education. Seven national partner organizations work with Lumina to guide the initiative and provide technical and other support to the colleges and states. They are: the American Association of Community Colleges; the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas-Austin; the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University; Jobs for the Future; MDC Inc.; MDRC; and Public Agenda. MDC is the initiative’s managing partner. One Hundred-two community colleges in 22 states participate in the initiative.
Developmental Education Initiative
Disconnected Youth in Durham: Connected by 25
Work
Latino Pathways
A demonstration project designed to increase job entry, retention, and advancement for Latino immigrants in two major North Carolina labor markets: Greensboro and Charlotte. The Latino Pathways project is forming community labor partnerships comprising community colleges, grassroots Latino organizations, employers, and other stakeholder groups to increase entry, retention, and advancement in living wage jobs for Latino immigrants.
Center for Working Families or Connecting People to Jobs?
Assets
The State of the South
A biennial report that addresses various aspects of the South's economic, educational, and social development. The most recent report, The State of the South 2007: Philanthropy as the South's "Passing Gear," examines a range of fundamental inequities that hold our region back from being globally competitive. It recommends how the South's growing capacity for philanthropy can contribute to making the South work well for all people. Along with data analysis found in each issue of State of the South, this report offers powerful examples of the transformational influence of philanthropic investment in our region. It provides a framework for how Southern leaders, state, communities, and donors can do more to address our collective challenges.
The State of the South 2010 will explore how the South can strengthen its position coming out of the economic downturn—by addressing inequities in the ways Southerners live, earn, learn, connect, and lead. These transformative issues will pave the way to a renewed region in which Southerners’ chance to fulfill their potential and achieve prosperity is not determined by where they are born.
EITC Carolinas
A statewide resource network, with support from the Z. Smith Reynolds and Annie E. Casey Foundations, to help communities assist low- and moderate-income working families during tax season to reclaim their earnings and build their assets. Membership in the network is free and provides access to free resources, training, and promotional materials.
Reflective Practice for Philanthropic Organizations
Strategic Network for Community Philanthropy?
Rural People, Rural Policy?
FEMA Emergency Preparedness Demonstration Program?
Board of Directors
Mark V. Bensen, Executive Vice President, MDC
Janet H. Brown
John F. Burness
J. Haywood Davis
David L. Dodson, President, MDC
Kate Dorsett, PhD
The Honorable Otis Johnson, PhD
Ambassador James A. Joseph, Chair
Don Munro
Robert C. Penn
Sally D. Robinson, Vice Chair
Juan Sepúlveda
Minor M. Shaw
Davis Wilson, PhD
Presidents
George B. Autry 1967-1999
David L. Dodson 1999-Current
References
http://www.mdcinc.org/docs/annual-report.pdf
http://www.mdcinc.org/about/index.aspx
See Also
Lumina Foundation for Education GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Annie E. Casey Foundation Ford Foundation Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Kellogg Foundation Z. Smith Reynolds Foudnations FEMA