A Call for Crowd Funding
MOBILE, Ala., Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The Emerging ChangeMakers Network ("ECN") today called on impact investors to support women who contribute to rural food production and distribution. "In Alabama, when you're talking agriculture and food, a woman is always going to be in the room," said Jessica Norwood, ECN Founder and Director. "Jetset.com has put Birmingham in its Top 6 best places to visit in 2013. Spend a few days there, then drive an hour west to enter the agricultural Black Belt. You will not forget what you see."
"Women in agriculture offer a new way of doing business for investors looking to make a significant impact on local communities. We could add new growers, even large growers of food. We are inviting impact investors to become a part of our community. In this way, we can all operate from a place of human dignity, meeting our communities' needs." Ms. Norwood recently delivered this message as a featured speaker at the Professional Agricultural Workers Conference, established by Dr. Booker T. Washington at historic Tuskegee University in 1894.
"We need more of the basics, like refrigerated trucks and high tunnels to protect plantings from weather damage on the ground. With more transportation capacity, we can bring food to urban areas that are in need of fresh food. We see expansion of food production as the means to feed ourselves and others."
ECN has been providing answers to the questions of how to build inclusive communities since 2007. It identifies and connects emerging leaders to their communities and to each other. ECN has been the recipient of Ford Foundation funding to build rural wealth creation initiatives since 2010. ECN has focused on rural wealth building in the historically underserved Black Belt, a rural farming area consisting of almost two dozen contiguous counties where most of Alabama's local food is produced.
Jessica Norwood is a community activist, advocate for rural wealth creation, and a frequent speaker on voting rights, community development and leadership, and funding for agriculture production and distribution. She is a recipient of the 2012 "40 Under 40" award from Mobile Bay [Alabama] Magazine.
Contact: Phoebe Hodges-Carter
Emerging ChangeMakers Network
Email
(251) 219-8480