Policy & Advocacy
The Seeding Success Public Policy team strives to create and nurture an environment that shifts the social policy conversation from developing programs to creating comprehensive systems of support to improve the lives of children and families.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Computer Science Education
S2 has worked with CodeCrew and the TN General Assembly over the past couple of years to advocate for computer science as a significant pathway for opportunity in the state. The resulting proposed statewide legislation was enacted into law as of June 2022.
Tennessee Child Care Task Force Legislation
S2 works in close partnership from a data and continuous improvement standpoint to support our local representatives in their roles on the committee, and we look forward to its recommendations.
Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Legislation
S2 supported advocacy around reforming the basic education funding formula by providing back channels into the district and feedback from our local community to TN Education Commissioner Dr. Penny Schwinn on scope, scale, and design. Our partners served on the committee that designed the new weighted formula, resulting in an additional $200M dollars for Shelby County.
TENNESSEE OPPORTUNITY ACT LEGISLATION
S2 helped shape the TN Opportunity Act, which guides the TN Department of Human Services use of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) including how $750M in unspent funds will be distributed. We are now looking to be an implementation partner, catalyzing funds to flow directly into Memphis through multiple collaborative proposals.
Joint Resolution
In December 2022, Seeding Success coordinated a joint resolution between the Shelby County Commission, Memphis City Council, and the Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board for More For Memphis. The resolution, which stipulates how the partnership will engage with elected leaders in the city, county, and school board throughout the plan writing process, passed unanimously through all three bodies, with every attending member of the school board joining as a sponsor of the legislation.
Over the course of the next year, S2 and the rest of the MFM project management team will work with elected and appointed leaders to engage with their constituencies and appear before these bodies to present updates on the policy development work. This is a foundational step in engaging the city and county in a public-private partnership effort to improve social and economic mobility for residents. Learn more at moreformemphis.org.
Public policy team
HALEY SIMMONS< Chief of Public Policy
ANTHONY HANNA, Deputy Director of Public Policy
MATTHEW MCCAFFREY, Senior Public Policy Advisor
CHARITY POROTESANO, Deputy Director of Public Policy and Analysis
ARIELLE WILLIAMS, Special Policy Assistant
ERICA COLEMAN, Policy Advisor
MARSHALL OGIER, Policy Advisor
RACHEL STARKS, Policy Advisor
WEEKLY POLICY UPDATE
Keep up with legislation, meetings, and hearings related to education policy in Memphis, Shelby County, and the state of Tennessee. Sign up for the Policy Team’s weekly updates and get expert analysis of key issues in your inbox every Friday.
Public Policy Committee
The Seeding Success Public Policy Committee was developed as a forum for experts to evaluate public policy and provide feedback and guidance on a range of education issues, including early childhood, K-12, postsecondary, and opportunity youth with the goals of improving education outcomes and social and economic mobility in Tennessee. The committee is composed of cradle-to-career representatives who meet monthly and invite experts to address out-of-school factors, such as transportation, housing, criminal justice, or public health, that have a significant impact on in-school performance.
Dr. Kandace Thomas, First 8 Memphis
Kate Watts, TN SCORE
Kathy Buckman Gibson, First 8 Memphis Board of Directors
Katy Spurlock, The Urban Child Institute
Kellie Mitchell, Porter-Leath
Kristen Bland, LeBonheur
Marla Smith-Brown, SeedCo
Meka Egwuekwe, CodeCrew
Melody Freeman, Shelby County Office of Justice Initiatives
Sally McIvert, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Sarah Lockridge-Steckel, The Collective Blueprint
Sean Lee, Porter-Leath
Sherman Greer, Southwest Tennessee Community College
Tanika Lester, Shelby County Schools.
Ted Townsend, University of Memphis
Whitney Hardy, EPIcenter
Alan Gumbel, Greater Memphis Alliance for Competitive Workforce
Alex Smith, City of Memphis
Andrea Baird, Moore Tech
April Terrell, Destiny House of Memphis
Belinda Johnson-Marte, Shelby County Schools
Bernard Williams, Shelby County Government Juvenile Court
Cardell Orrin, Stand for Children
Chloe Moore, Next Memphis
Darrell Cobbins, Seeding Success Board of Directors
Dr. Beverly Cross, University of Memphis
Dr. Cedrick Gray, Shelby County Government Office of Education
Dr. Michael Lowe, Shelby County Government
Jasmine M Worles, Shelby County Schools
Josh Spickler, Just City
Justin Entzminger, Innovate Memphis
Justin Merrick, Center for Transforming Communities