At a meeting of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) in Jackson, Mississippi in January, Flemming Fellows and Mississippi state senators Willie Simmons (FF `99; near right) and Robert Johnson (FF `96) both stressed how critical accessible information that helps inform the policy making agenda is to legislators as they work on behalf of families and communities. For many state legislators who share or have no staff and have limited access to policy resources, sources of usable and accurate policy information are invaluable. State policy leaders who work with communities will shape the future for vulnerable children, for working families, and for people struggling to get out of poverty as devolution continues.

Former Mississippi Gov. William F. Winter (far right) was the featured dinner speaker at the WKKF Devolution Initiative event.