$25,000 / 2016
Tunica, MS
Tunica Teens In Action (TTIA) is an intergenerational community-led organization that works on a wide range of community issues and addresses racism through community dialogues, youth leadership development and public policy development and advocacy. Tunica is 94% Black and 3% Latino. Through the accountable governance work that TTIA has done, the community was able to elect five African-American Supervisors to the Tunica County Board of Supervisors, the first African-American Tax Assessor, the first African-American woman to be the Justice Court Judge and an African-American Chancery Clerk. Hazen’s renewal grant will support Tunica’s campaign to ensure that the community’s voice continues to be heard – and attended to – in education policy and practice in the district. Tunica Teens will play an active role in vetting superintendent candidates. The grant also will support the organization’s ongoing work with statewide partners to gain adequate funding for Mississippi schools.