HOW TO HEAL A COMMUNITY Alumni share the lessons of Leadership Birmingham How can a community come together after experiencing widespread trauma fueled by injustice? As part of the September commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Birmingham campaign in the civil rights movement, the Historic Bethel Baptist Church hosted a conference—titled There IS a Balm in Gilead: Healing From the Events of 1963—to explore avenues for recovery. Four Class of 2022 alumni led a session highlighting the connections and conversations that take place within Leadership Birmingham and the ways they use their knowledge to help bridge divides.
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READER LEADER Bonnie Short (YLF ’91) helps Alabama students gain ground in literacy Bonnie Short has good news to share about Alabama’s success in teaching young children to read: The 2022 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP)—the nation’s report card—showed that “our fourth-grade students made gains in literacy while almost every other state declined,” she says. That’s a welcome improvement from the NAEP’s previous report from three years earlier, which ranked Alabama fourth-graders 49th in reading.
PHOTOS: OPENING BREAKFAST 2023 Page 2
Click here to see the full photo album from the Opening Retreat Breakfast that took place on September 7th at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
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SEEN, HEARD, AND REMEMBERED Alumni share their latest book, program, and podcast discoveries Gail Andrews (’84) Director Emerita Birmingham Museum of Art American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins “I was totally caught up in this gripping story of a mother and child trying to escape the wrath of the drug cartel that is ignited by her husband’s reveal of their leader. Their story, set in Mexico, and those of the individuals they met as they travel north, was extremely compelling.
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A Stronger Bond with Birmingham As another program year comes to a close, some members of the Class of 2023 highlight how the experience has shaped them and their roles as community leaders: “Leadership Birmingham introduced me to so many new parts of our vibrant city and to an inspiring group of leaders whom I am privileged to now call friends. I was particularly inspired by my classmates and the multitude of incredible nonprofits in the city dedicated to creating opportunities for children.
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An Insider’s Look at YLF Anoop Mishra is one of the rare double graduates in the Leadership Birmingham family — a member of both the Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) Class of 1988 and the Leadership Birmingham Class of 2011. That gives him a unique perspective on the high-school program among his Leadership Birmingham colleagues.
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INNOVATION DESTINATION Miller Girvin maps the growth of Birmingham’s start-up economy—and the ways you can support its expansion. What happens when a start-up stops? The answer reveals a lot about a city’s rise as a high-tech, idea-driven, entrepreneurial business hub, says Miller Girvin (’19).
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Idea Library Alumni share their latest book, program, and podcast discoveries Teresa Pulliam (’10) Circuit Judge, Criminal Division 10th Judicial Circuit of Alabama The Wire, HBO series: “Not that I need additional crime drama in my life, but I missed watching it 10 years ago and have been addicted to the series about crime in Baltimore in the 1980s.” “Hope of Alabama,” World Games 2022 theme song: “The song features vocal artists from Alabama and is directed by Dr. Henry Panion III.
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Wish Fulfillment Eva Robertson (’17) highlights the community benefits of matching resources with opportunities Imagine you have the power to grant wishes. Where do you begin making the world a better place? Deciding that is, in essence, Eva Robertson’s job.
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Projects with Permanence In light of Odessa Woolfolk’s challenge to revisit study-group projects, here are four group and class initiatives that have left lasting traces in the community. The lost miners of Pratt City: Inspired by Douglas Blackmon’s book Slavery By Another Name, which details the practice of convict leasing that primarily targeted Black prisoners, a group from the Class of 2013 illuminated its impact on Jefferson County.