Let’s Talk Jackson

Dr. Joy Hogge is the executive director of Families as Allies, a nonprofit organization based here in Jackson. Joy Hogge has a master’s degree and a Ph.D in counseling psychology from Texas A&M University. She’s been the executive director of Families as Allies since 2011, where she oversees the development, implementation and assessment of family-driven, community-based services that support children with mental health challenges and their families. Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading →

Our guest this episode is Dr. Robert Luckett, a Jackson native who graduated from Richland Public Schools, left for Yale University, earned his PhD in history from the University of Georgia and returned to Jackson 12 years ago to be a history professor at Jackson State University and the director of the Margaret Walker Center at JSU. Dr. Luckett is a member of the Jackson Public Schools school board, was part of a team involved in the Mississippi History Museum and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and the author of the book “Joe T. Patterson and the White South’s Dilemma: Evolving Resistance to Black Advancement.” Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Join at jfp.ms/VIP and help support JFP programming such as Let’s Talk Jackson. Continue Reading →

Nashlie Sephus is a Jackson native who graduated from Jackson Public Schools to ultimately go on to earn a PhD in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. She worked in Atlanta as a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a startup company, Partpic, that was ultimately acquired by one of the world’s largest technology companies. Her Jackson-based nonprofit, the Bean Path, is celebrating it’s two-year anniversary soon, and she’s working on a new live-work development near downtown Jackson that promises maker spaces, restaurants and an unprecedented creative environment in Jackson. thebeanpath.org/
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Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading →

Our guest in this episode is Betsy Bradley is the director of the Mississippi Museum of Art. Originally from Greenville, Miss. msmuseumart.org/index.php/

This was actually the second time we recorded this interview — the first was right before the coronavirus pandemic hit, and things changed so rapidly that we had to pull the episode. We spoke about the launch of a new exhibition featuring works by Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas, as well as the protocols for visiting the museum and some plans for outdoor events and exhibitions this fall. Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. Continue Reading →

In this special edition of Let’s Talk Jackson, Todd Stauffer spoke with Mr. Timothy Rush, who is Director of Reemployment Assistance at the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. Todd spoke with Mr. Rush about the current state of the MDES system, what they’ve gone through to deal with tens of thousands of suddenly unemployed people, including questions of who is getting federal stimulus dollars and what it means when you get a debit card with no money on it. We recorded the interview via Zoom during a busy day, so please excuse the sound quality. mdes.ms.gov/

Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading →

In this special edition of Let’s Talk Jackson, state report Nick Judin spoke with Dr. Thomas Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs is leading the public-health response to the COVID-19 crisis, directing the State Department of Health and serving as Gov. Tate Reeves’ chief health adviser on the virus and the state’s attempts to stem its spread. msdh.ms.gov/
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Nick spoke with Dr. Dobbs specifically about the racial disparities that are appearing in the COVID-19 numbers—both the number of cases and the number of deaths, as well as what the Health Department is trying to do about it. Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading →

In this special edition of Let’s Talk Jackson, Todd Stauffer talks with David Humphreys, a local attorney with the Carson Law Group who has two decades of commercial law and litigation experience. David earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Accounting, and Bachelor’s Degrees in both Economics and Business Administration, all from Rhodes College. We talked about issues that small businesses in Jackson are facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, including some loans and grants that you can apply for thanks to the CARES Act that passed in late March. We also talked about employment issues, unemployment issues and some legal questions that we’ve been fielding through this trying time. Continue Reading →

Alesha Judkins is the State Director for Criminal Justice Reform at Fwd.us, a bipartisan group founded by leaders in the technology and business communities seeking meaningful reform in the areas of immigration and criminal justice. She spoke with Jackson Free Press editor-in-chief Donna Ladd about the fact that Mississippi has the third highest level of incarceration, and how that’s affecting public safety and crime rates. Alesha Judkins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alesha-judkins-46a373101/

Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Join at jfp.ms/VIP and help support JFP programming such as Let’s Talk Jackson. Continue Reading →

Merritt Baria is a 23-year-old political strategist in Mississippi who grew up in Jackson and on the Gulf Coast, and is now living back in the capital city. The daughter of outgoing Mississippi House Minority Leader David Baria, Merritt talks with Donna Ladd about the need for more women to run for office in the state and for strategists to take a wider view of who is a “viable” candidate or not. She plans to help more women, in particular, run for and win office as she did with incoming House Rep. Shanda Yates. Merritt Baria on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/merritt-baria-73b426a3/

Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading →

Dr. Mukesh Kumar is an associate professor at Jackson State University who recently finished a two-year stint as the director of planning and development for the City of Jackson. He sat down with Todd Stauffer to discuss his time with the City and what the discipline of planning can (and can’t) do to improve the quality of life in a place like Jackson. Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union; this episode also is brought to you by the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art. More at http://museumcape.org/. jsdfoundation.com
This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading →