The Seeds of Sovereignty: What the 2025 GSP Convening Made Possible
In October 2025, Grantmakers for Southern Progress convened funders, organizers, and movement partners in Little Rock for The Seeds of Sovereignty, a gathering rooted in honoring the legacy of rural Southern movement work, acknowledging the growing phase we are in, and lifting up rural strategies that can lead the way toward the structural change we seek.
At a moment when rural communities continue to be misunderstood, under-resourced, and politically targeted, the convening challenged philanthropy to move differently by partnering with community leadership and shifting narratives of rural scarcity toward Southern prosperity grounded in abundance, care, and collective power.
Why the Rural South, and Why Arkansas
Arkansas was an intentional host. While only 20 percent of people in the United States live in rural areas, 44 percent of Arkansans and 46 percent of people across the South do. Yet rural communities are often flattened by narratives that erase communities of color and obscure the impact of structural racism, extractive policies, and chronic disinvestment.
Across Arkansas and the broader rural South, organizers are advancing labor rights for immigrant workers, expanding access to healthcare, defending land and environmental protections, and building durable power amid political backlash. The Seeds of Sovereignty centered these realities and affirmed rural leadership as essential to Southern movements.
Grounding the Convening
The convening opened with intention and grounding. Tamieka Mosley, President and CEO of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, framed The Seeds of Sovereignty as both a reflection on legacy and a call to action for philanthropy to follow community leadership and resource long-term strategies for change.
Participants were welcomed to Arkansas by Dr. Sherece West-Scantlebury, with Sherra Bennett (both of Winthrop-Rockefeller Foundation) serving as host throughout the convening. The gathering was culturally grounded through the presence and practice of Maria Cristina Morales, whose offering, rooted in her Indigenous heritage, helped set the tone for reflection, respect, and collective responsibility.
Spark presentations by Magaly Licolli, Loan Tran, and Taifa Butler provided political and movement context for the convening.
Curating the Space: Joy, Care, and Focused Work
From the outset, The Seeds of Sovereignty was intentionally designed to cultivate joy while creating space for deep focus on the real work at hand. Music, shared meals, cultural grounding, and opportunities for connection were woven throughout the convening alongside rigorous political analysis and strategy building. This balance fostered trust and allowed difficult conversations about power, responsibility, and resources to unfold with honesty and care.
A Word from GSP Leadership
Reflecting on the convening, Tamieka Mosley, CEO shared:
“The Seeds of Sovereignty affirmed what many of us already know but too often have to fight to prove. Rural communities across the South are not waiting to be saved. They are leading, organizing, and building the future right now. This convening was about honoring that truth while challenging philanthropy to show up with humility, courage, and a willingness to move resources in alignment with community wisdom.”
Learning From the Ground Up
Participants engaged in offsite Learning Tours that centered rural realities and solutions. The Exploring Rural Healthcare tour examined how underfunding and divestment have led to hospital closures and workforce shortages, with insights from Craig Wilson, Dr. Susan Ward-Jones, Mellie Boagni, and Dr. Kelle Farris.
The Reclaiming the Rural South tour highlighted how rural communities experience national policy decisions first and most acutely, with perspectives from Osyrus Bolly, Keesa Smith-Brantley, and Candace Williams.
Breakout Sessions and Shared Learning
Breakout sessions created space for focused dialogue, strategy exchange, and shared learning across issues shaping the rural South. Topics included Black agrarian leadership and food sovereignty, trans resistance and safety across the Deep South, place-based organizing in rural Black communities, defending local democracy against state preemption, principles for rural philanthropic engagement, sustaining movements through crisis, and activating culture, art, and organizing as tools for power building.
Together, these sessions reflected the interconnected nature of Southern struggles and highlighted the need for philanthropy to engage holistically across racial justice, gender justice, democracy, culture, and movement sustainability.
Documentary Premiere
The convening also featured the premiere of The Alabama Solution. The screening highlighted community-driven approaches to policy change and power building in Alabama and reinforced storytelling as a vital tool for narrative change and movement building in the South.
Voices From the Convening
Participant reflections captured the depth of the gathering.
Osyrus Bolly shared:
“My mission was to imagine a South where philanthropy equals humanity, love, and liberation. Through authentic relationship building, youth engagement, community-driven data, and mutual aid, we prove that we already have the tools of transformation.
Real progress in the rural South is not charity. It is co-creation. It is people reclaiming the narrative, shaping policy, and demanding structural change alongside righteous accomplices. The greatest investment is in people who already know how to grow something from nothing. That is power and true seeds of sovereignty.”
Rich Havard reflected:
“As the South goes, so goes the nation. Being among so many people who believe in the power of rural communities was deeply meaningful. I left convicted that philanthropy must move more money to the South, honor spiritual grounding, and speak in language that is accessible and rooted in culture and connection. This convening affirmed that the South has much to teach philanthropy about justice and humanity.”
Earlier in the convening, Robert Salcido Jr. shared:
“We had intentional conversations around justice-centered, people-first approaches that honor community wisdom and challenge us to align grantmaking with deep, structural, and cultural change. Philanthropy is the love of humanity.”
Awards Dinner and Honoring the Legacy and Seeding the Future of Black Women in Philanthropy
A deeply meaningful moment of the convening was the Awards Dinner and Honoring the Legacy and Seeding the Future of Black Women in Philanthropy. The evening honored the late Gladys K. Washington and Janine Lee, whose leadership and mentorship shaped philanthropy in the South.
Grantmakers for Southern Progress also presented awards recognizing leaders whose work embodies the spirit of The Seeds of Sovereignty:
- Community Vanguard Award: Melanie Allen
- Movement Defender Award: Shannon Cofrin Gaggero (not pictured)
- Structural Change Award: Julie Gable
- Power Building Award: Tamieka Atkins
The evening concluded with the Seeding the Future of Black Women in Philanthropy panel moderated by Veronica Hemmingway, featuring Toya Nash Randall, Sherra Bennett, and Lavastian Glenn.
Closing Plenary: Making Rural Connections, Seeding Transformation for Collective Action
The convening closed with Making Rural Connections: Seeding Transformation for Collective Action. Panelists Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, Joe Tolbert, Marjonna Jones, and Lindsay Ryder explored how rural geography shapes worker organizing, the intersections of immigration and labor rights, and the role of culture and storytelling in sustaining resistance. The plenary invited participants to move from connection to collective action with urgency and accountability.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Carrying the Work Forward
The Seeds of Sovereignty reaffirmed a clear truth: Rural communities are foundational to Southern movements. The relationships, insights, and strategies cultivated during the 2025 Convening will continue to guide how philanthropy shows up in service of community-led change.
