Our  founders and early principals included several prominent community leaders from the Mid-Delta region:

• Joseph H (Jog) Wheatly, an educator at Coahoma Junior College, served as MDC’s first Executive Director and later founded the Delta Association for Rural Initiatives
• James W. Wright of Clarksdale, a judge and co-founder with Fannie Lou Hamer of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
• Robert Kegler of Charleston, a housing developer
• O.M. McNair of Belzoni, a 1933 graduate of Alcorn College, served as principal at Belzoni High School/McNair School and Assistant District Superintendent
• Mrs. TB Williams of Grenada
• Willie J. Jones of Clarksdale

Our initial focus was to address the low literacy rate among Delta farmworkers, the first step toward gaining a GED and attending area community colleges and universities. Early clients included farmworkers moving cotton in horse-drawn carts. Over time, services were added for training in the trades, English as a second language, soft skills training, and job placement.

MDC’s work in adult education supported several economic development initiatives in the area, leading in the late ‘70’s to a merger combining MDC with the economic development agency in nearby Belzoni.

Our current Executive Director, Don Green, started work in MDC’s Finance Department in the early 1980’s, shortly after graduating from Delta State University in nearby Cleveland. By 1984 he rose to Chief Financial Officer and succeeded Joseph Wheatly as Executive Director in 2005.

MDC gradually increased staff through the 1980’s, reaching about 30 employees. However, IT tools reduced employment by half in the early 1990’s. Growth in recent years and the addition of satellite offices has our staffing back in the range of 25 to 30 full-time and seasonal employees.

In 2005, just as Mr. Green assumed leadership of MDC, Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal Mississippi and Louisiana. MDC quickly partnered with World Care and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to operate a relief supplies receiving, storage, and distribution center in Clarksdale, using a building leased from the county. Subsequently, LULAC helped MDC purchase the 55,000 sq ft building, which now contains a commercial kitchen, food cold storage, and space for equipment storage and training activities.

During our service to the Delta, we have enrolled more than 100,000 people in our agriculture, healthcare, technology, business, and industrial training programs. We have also assisted more than 250,000 people with access to other community services, such as housing support, job placement, and health care.