John Railey, the director of the new Partnership for Prosperity, will lead a panel discussion on fighting poverty. The partnership grew out of Mayor Allen Joines’ Poverty Thought Force, a committee he tasked to identify pragmatic solutions to alleviating poverty. It ultimately made 56 recommendations for alleviating poverty, including a central body which led to the formation of The Partnership for Prosperity.
The partnership has been updating the recommendations through public listening sessions, issue sessions, and community forums. This includes the discussion St. Paul’s will hold, as the partnership works to build public will toward an action plan to alleviate poverty. The goal is to concentrate on public awareness, coordination of the fight, and advocacy on the local and state level for beneficial policy changes.
Railey is the former editorial page editor of the Winston-Salem Journal. His advocacy work includes criminal justice reform, supporting Nancy Dennis in her battle for more handicapped parking downtown, and helping to lead the successful fight, with former state Rep. Larry Womble, to make North Carolina the first state in the country to compensate victims of forced sterilization.
