Our work to meet the moment in 2025 was possible because supporters like you valued SEAP’s commitment to centering our partners’ needs and creating practical ways to meet them. Our commitment to our vision of Southern progress will not waiver in the year to come, and we hope that yours won’t either.
Our Impact in the South
Each dot on the map corresponds to a partner SEAP engaged with in 2025
By the Numbers
- 3 in-person convenings
- 13 virtual convenings
- 7 webinars serving 1,099 participants
- 195 SEAP Table members
- 32 partners supported through Our Dollars, Our Dreams
- 27 Policy Entrepreneurs Program members
- 24 Regional housing collaborative members
- 33 Local Budget Equity community of practice members
Federal Funds & Authoritarianism Response
One of the defining features of 2025 across our network was the swift and sweeping impact of the changes implemented by the new administration. SEAP immediately responded by with a rapid response strategy to support our network of Southern grassroots partners.
“The uncertainties with this administration are causing undue stress. Partners like SEAP are helping us to cope.” – webinar participant
Democratizing Data
We preserved disappearing data dashboards and tools, created the tools to make quality data accessible to everyday users in our network, used data to build narratives of resilience, and shared our learnings with the field.
Place and Progress
With this tool, users can create a nuanced view of their community based on county-level data to build narratives that balance both the community’s needs and its strengths.
Tools Transforming Public Data
TTPD is a repository for all of the tools and dashboards using federal datasets.
Our Dollars, Our Dreams
As the public funding landscape was fundamentally altered by federal freezes and massive shifts in policy priorities, SEAP worked to meet the moment by supporting current partners weathering change and providing support wherever there were opportunities to drive investment in the South.
Heat Mitigation in the Arkansas Delta
The Arkansas Black Mayors Association received a grant award, with the help of SEAP’s grant writing, at the end of 2024 to plant trees in Arkansas Delta communities that are plagued by excessive heat. They were able to navigate a federal funding freeze that delayed their funds through SEAP’s ongoing technical assistance in 2025.
Workforce Development in Memphis
SEAP provided technical assistance to MidSouth Construction Careers, a pre-apprenticeship program in Memphis, TN. We worked this year to help MCC secure public funds for their program, which has proved challenging when the federal government discontinued its investments in worker readiness programs.
“SEAP helped shape the way we talk about our work and how we present it. They care about what we are trying to build and about a progressive future for the city and region.”
Economic Recovery Corps
SEAP became a host site for the Economic Recovery Corps Fellowship in 2024, hosting ERC Fellow Fenika Miller, whose work has focused on bringing clean energy investments to Black churches in Georgia. This year, the work has continued despite the many shifts in federal energy and climate policy. This continuation of the work is a testament to the persistence of Black faith leaders as well as Fenika’s commitment to knowledge sharing built on genuine partnership.
Georgia AME Sixth District Microgrid Project
Their long-term resilience strategy includes solar panel installation, battery storage, EV charging stations, affordable housing integration, community gardens, and resilience hubs.
“This work is a radical reimagining of what churches can do with the resources they have.” Fenika Miller, Economic Recovery Corps Fellow
Field Building & Network Support
SEAP acts as “connective tissue” to bring Southern leaders together from across state lines and issue areas in order to learn together, replicate best practices, and build social capital. By investing in the organizing ecosystem, we are equipping the region’s leaders with the tools to succeed in policy change work.
Local Budget Equity Community of Practice
Members share successes, frustrations, and strategies for making budget processes more transparent, equitable, and inclusive and discuss breaking down barriers to community involvement, building stronger relationships between advocates and government officials, and pushing for policies that ensure resources are distributed fairly.
Southern Regional Housing Collaborative
One of he most common needs identified by affordable housing professionals in our network includes the ability to connect with people doing similar work in other states and a way to learn from peers finding success in housing policy within the Southern context.
Policy Entrepreneurs Program
SEAP hosted the second PEP cohort, which included monthly virtual gatherings and culminated in a convening hosted in Jackson, MS. The cohort included 27 early career policy professionals from across the South.
The SEAP Table
This year, we introduced SEAP Table, an online community for Southern changemakers. SEAP Table is a space where advocates can come together across state lines or policy areas to build connections and share resources. In addition to being a space where members can share resources or freely connect, we also host closed groups for various cohorts or communities of practice.
WIC Policy Work Group
SEAP invested in policy infrastructure in Alabama by providing the community-centered data collection and financial support needed to build a cross-sector working group to improve WIC for Alabama families.
