Our mission at Southern Good Faith Fund is to increase the incomes and assets of low-income and low-skilled residents of the Delta in Arkansas and Mississippi. Southern Good Faith Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit affiliate of Southern Bancorp, Inc.

At Southern Good Faith Fund, we’re working to change this cycle and give people the skills, training and support they need to make better lives for themselves. We offer unique and innovative programs that blend asset development, small business development, workforce development and public policy activities.

Central Arkansas Development Council is a private, non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life and to strengthen communities in Arkansas.

At CADC, low-income individuals and families are engaged in programs and services that improve their ability to become self-sufficient. CADC does this by promoting opportunities for empowerment, from Head Start and Senior Adult Centers to Community and Program Development.

CFED is a nonprofit organization that expands economic opportunity. Established in 1979 as the Corporation for Enterprise Development, CFED works to ensure that every person can participate in, contribute to, and benefit from the economy by bringing together community practice, public policy, and private markets. We identify promising ideas; test and refine them in communities to find out what works; craft policies and products to help good ideas reach scale; and foster new markets to achieve greater economic impact.

The Center for Social Development (CSD) is a unit of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work (GWB) at Washington University in St. Louis. The impetus for creating CSD was from Dean Shanti Khinduka, and the Center began in 1994 with Michael Sherraden as the founding director. Although relatively young as an organization, CSD has established itself as a leading academic center in social development.

Social development refers to focusing on development and building capacities of individuals, families, and communities, in contrast to a more traditional social services focus on maintenance and problem solving. CSD has a multipurpose agenda encompassing social theory, research, policy innovation, projects in the community, and teaching. CSD projects connect academic and applied interests and build bridges across public, non-profit, and private sectors. Both academic excellence and real-world involvement are emphasized. The watchwords are inquiry, innovation, and impact.

EOA was founded in 1966 as a not-for-profit agency with an overall mission of helping low-income families and households succeed in the social and economic arenas of Northwest Arkansas. We believe that if you empower families who wish to succeed, you will empower all of Northwest Arkansas to be one the best areas in the US to raise a family and succeed in the workplace.

Healthy Connections, Inc. is a nonprofit organization serving the needs of children and at-risk families throughout the Western Arkansas region. There are many needs to be met, one of which is the high rates of adolescent, out-of-wedlock pregnancies — the problem that inspired the beginning of HCI. Over the past 8 years, Healthy Connections, Inc. has been able to successfully offer solutions to this and many other needs in the community. Our passion continues to be to provide all the members of our community with the quality healthcare they need, and to help them attain to a higher standard of living, regardless of social or financial set-backs. This is done by promoting health awareness, education, parenting skills and support through numerous state and federal programs.

The United Methodist Church has a long history of concern for social justice. Its members have often taken forthright positions on controversial issues involving Christian principles. Early Methodists expressed their opposition to the slave trade, to smuggling, and to the cruel treatment of prisoners. Therefore, we recognize the responsibility of governments to develop and implement sound fiscal and monetary policies that provide for the economic life of individuals and corporate entities and that ensure full employment and adequate incomes with a minimum of inflation. We believe private and public economic enterprises are responsible for the social costs of doing business, such as employment and environmental pollution, and that they should be held accountable for these costs. We support measures that would reduce the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We further support efforts to revise tax structures and to eliminate governmental support programs that now benefit the wealthy at the expense of other persons.

The University of Arkansas is a nationally competitive, student-centered, research university serving Arkansas and the world. The University embraces and expands the historic trust inherent in the land-grant philosophy by providing access to academic and professional education, by developing intellectual growth and cultural awareness in its students, and by applying knowledge and research skills to an ever-changing human condition. Consistent with and flowing from the mission of the University of Arkansas, the mission of the University of Arkansas School of Social Work is to conduct research, educate leader/practitioners, and apply research findings in outreach efforts, to improve the quality of life of vulnerable persons, families, groups, organizations and communities. This mission is achieved through the research, education and outreach activities of the School’s students, faculty, and professional staff.