Ben Lewis believes anything is possible through good coffee. At Meraki Roasting Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Ben is providing employment training to young adults working to break the cycle of poverty in the Mississippi Delta.

At Spring Initiative, staff and students create a community of caring to overcome life’s challenges.

Anja Thiessen calls the Mississippi Delta region "a place of perseverance and grit and resilience." As co-director of Spring Initiative in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Anja works to "empower young people to beat the odds, access the opportunities they deserve, and build successful, hopeful, and happy lives."

Canoe guide Mark ‘River’ Peoples uses the power of the Mississippi River to inspire and educate his students

Mark 'River' Peoples believes in the Mississippi River’s power to heal, teach and inspire. It's why the Clarksdale, Mississippi canoe guide shares the river with underserved youth in the Delta region of Mississippi and Arkansas.

Through training in technology, arts and entrepreneurship, Shifting Rhythms helps youth develop new skills and self-expression.

In the Mississippi Delta, an innovative after-school program puts struggling readers on a path to literacy

In a rural region struggling to recruit teachers, high-achieving high schoolers are now receiving AP instruction from some of the nation’s top educators

With the worst mobility odds in the country and a severe lack of funding, the Delta has become an ‘opportunity desert’

The Delta College Attainment Network is putting students on post-secondary path

Research exploring how foundations approach funding public safety projects, focusing on two counties (Phillips County, Arkansas, and Coahoma County, Mississippi) in the Mississippi Delta

In the Arkansas Delta, public charter network prepares students for lives of opportunity

Quality of Life in Phillips County, Arkansas and Coahoma County, Mississippi

How bold thinking and steady determination hold potential to help transform a challenged region

Spring Initiative provides opportunities for children in the Mississippi Delta

CYCLE Kids teaches students in Helena-West Helena the benefits of exercise and nutrition.