Update May 2008

(Since the publication of the May newsletter, CFSA has restructured the leadership of CED.

More information will be posted on this website when available.)

The five core issues of the Community Economic Development Initiative (CED) are:    

   • Workforce housing    

   • Workforce development    

   • Education    

   • Healthy Communities    

   • Community leadership development 

The CED team develops CED’s themes and messages, addresses policy and advocacy needs, and most importantly, develops key relationships with important stakeholders such as:    

   • National funders    

   • Local funders    

   • Community leaders    

   • Local, state, and national elected officials    

   • Nonprofit organizations 

Carolyn Douglas serves as CED Manager.  Carolyn manages much of the daily activity of CED such as setting meetings, sending out communication and keeping records.  Carolyn also brings with her extensive knowledge, contacts and credibility as the past Executive Director of the Literacy Coalition of South Alabama as she facilitates building strategic partnerships around the core issues of health and education. 

Jerome Hughes, who holds a law degree and Masters in Education degree from Harvard University, brings a strong background in public policy and community leadership building to the team as CED Fellow through a joint grant to the University of South Alabama’s Center for Public Policy and Center for Healthy Communities.  Besides serving as the primary facilitator at myriad community convenings, Jerome provides access to essential resources at South Alabama for data collection and analysis to ensure investment is made where it is needed and is successful based on objective criteria.    

While working in all five areas, Workforce Development and Workforce Housing are our primary foci.  These two issues have been identified as the two most important challenges facing South Alabama by Mayor Sam Jones, other local elected officials, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, community leaders, and the Community Needs Assessment commissioned by CFSA.  With the current and anticipated economic growth in our region, the need for a well trained workforce housed locally is universally recognized as the essential ingredient to success.  

The Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council (SAWDC) has emerged after a year long strategic planning process as the vehicle to address these challenges.   The CFSA has been involved with the Council from its inception with Mayor Jones, Bill Sisson and Sam Covert (Alabama Power and Chamber Workforce Committee Chair) of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce; Sidney Raine of Mobile Works; Steve Perry of the Forum; Carolyn Akers of the Mobile Area Education Foundation; and Bob Higgins of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance.  This collaboration is unprecedented, not only in South Alabama, but throughout the nation.  These leaders have acknowledged that without CFSA’s participation as a neutral “honest broker,” the Council would break down.  The Council has requested, Mayor Jones, the Chamber and Mobile Works particularly, that CFSA house the Director at CFSA.  As such and exclusively because of CFSA’s leadership, Mobile has been nominated to participate in the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, a joint funding collaborative of the U. S. Department of Labor, Ford Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Hitachi Foundation and the Council on Foundations.  Because of CFSA’s leadership role, Mobile is one of only 15 cities to be invited to participate in the Fund and the first and only mid-to-small-size city so asked.   

Regarding Workforce Housing, CFSA leads the Regional Housing Initiative that brings together all affected stakeholders.  To address this challenge, CFSA envisioned and funded the creation of the Enterprise Corporation of Alabama (ECA) through MLK Avenue Redevelopment Corporation with the support of the Ford Foundation and the J. L. Bedsole Foundation and Governor Bob Riley.  ECA accesses both public and private dollars to provide financial resources to poor working families and for development projects that provide housing for the much needed workforce.  The Baldwin Housing Alliance (BHA) has been created after more than two years of planning.  BHA provides a valuable model for community input in this process that is being replicated in Mobile County and ultimately through the other six counties we serve.  

CFSA’s leadership role in Workforce Development and Workforce Housing as well as in Education, Healthcare and Leadership Development provides extensive visibility in our service area that can be capitalized upon to build CFSA’s endowment to meet our community’s needs, “For good, For ever.”