Karla Edwards-Central MS Hub Director for Volunteers and Nonprofits

A native of Natchez,  Karla has spent the last two and a half years working at The Alliance as the Central MS Hub Director, and is committed to a lifetime of service. She received her Master of Nonprofit Management from University of Central Florida. She also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Mississippi. She abides by Mahatma Gandhi’s quote “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.  

Karla will be the new Director of Mississippi Programs with Reading and Math, Inc., a national nonprofit that develops and scales evidence-based national service programs to help solve complex social issues and meet urgent community needs. They are a new AmeriCorps State Program with Volunteer Mississippi.

We wish Karla the best of luck in her new endeavor! 

 Lacee Winfield – Intern

My time at the Alliance has been one of the most fruitful and rewarding moments of my college career. Interning with a group of people whose work and personal passion is about the societal improvement of MS residents was extremely inspiring and inspired me to one day return to MS to do philanthropy or nonprofit work.

While at the Alliance, I learned about fundraising, the intersectionality between nonprofits and philanthropic groups, and how important it is to listen to the needs of our nonprofits. I realized just how rigorous programming is and how good programming is revolutionary for organizations.

Finally, I learned that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work needs to be incorporated not only in the workspace but also in the organizations that The Alliance serves.  Overall, interning at the Alliance truly helped me not only understand the big picture of how the not-for-profit sector is the driving force for positive change for the citizens of our nation but also that I want to be a part of this driving force. Spending an entire year with the Alliance was an opportunity many young people interested in public service do not receive, and I am genuinely thankful for this experience.

Lacee will be  will be spending 6 weeks in the Yucatán doing archaeological research and then starting her apprenticeship with Trigran Inc. as a Junior research analyst. She has been a joy to work with and a dynamic contributor to The Alliance team. Lacee will be greatly missed. We wish her all the best in her new career!

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