About Us
“Women in my part of the United States still suffer a spectrum of indignities. Many lack affordable, humanely habitable housing and access to jobs paying a fair wage and retirement benefits. Many of them have no health insurance and no proximity to hospitals. For those who manage to make it onto some company’s payroll, workplace harassment can be a major problem. And the further back into the woods one travels, women’s circumstances seem that much worse.”
Executive Committee & Staff
An Executive Committee made up of Directors of the state lead organizations, the Asset and Finance Development Director and Senior Program Consultants provide general oversight and ensures that program goals are being met in a timely fashion.
Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald
Southern Regional Director
Children’s Defense Fund
Jackson, MS
Winifred Green
Senior Consultant SRBWI
New Orleans, LA
Sophia Bracy-Harris
Federation of Childcare Centers of Alabama, Inc.
Montgomery, AL
Shirley Sherrod
Southwest Georgia Project
Albany, GA
Sarah Bobrow Williams
Asset and Finance Development Director
CDF-SRO/SRBWI
Augusta, GA
Carol Blackmon
CB Enterprises
Jackson, MS
SRBWI's Regional and States Staff
A Regional Advisory Committee of women representatives from our 3 targeted states is the coordinating body for all SRBWI programmatic activities. The committee ensures quality and consistency of SRBWI efforts at the community, state, and regional level.
Southern Regional Director
Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald
Senior Consultants
Carol Blackmon & Winifred Green
Asset and Finance Director
Sarah Bobrow Williams
Regional Program Officer
Latisha Latiker
Regional Youth Director
Natalie A. Collier
State Advisory Committees made up of women from local communities guide SRBWI activities within each state. The state and regional advisory committees include SRBWI young women participants selected by their peers.
1. ALABAMA
State Lead Organization: Federation of Childcare Centers of Alabama (FOCAL)
State Program Director – Sophia Bracy Harris
State Coordinator – Deborah A. Thomas
Youth Organizers – Kimiya Harris and Callie Greer
2. GEORGIA
State Lead Organization: Southwest Georgia Project
State Program Director –Shirley Sherrod
State Coordinator/Organizer – Karen Lawrence
Business Development Specialist- Daa'Iyah Salaam
Youth Coordinator – Jacqueline Childress
3. MISSISSIPPI
State Lead Organization: Southern Regional Office of The Children’s Defense Fund
State Program Director – Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald
State Coordinator – Latisha Latiker
Youth Organizer– Natalie A. Collier
State Organizer - Gloria Sturdivant