Published January 15, 2014
Dr. Pamela H. Saulsberry, professor of social work at the University of Louisiana
at Monroe, developed a diversity workshop panel for the Delta Regional Authority’s
Leadership Institute in New Orleans.
Saulsberry chaired the panel that included Dr. Jennifer Savage of Jacksonville State
University, and Bryan Moore, Director of the Office of Workforce Development at the
Louisiana Workforce Commission.
“Diversity is the rule, not the exception,” Saulsberry said.
“It is present in every system of our lives, and it is essential to examine historical
challenges populations such as women and ethnic groups in the states included in the
Delta have faced economically. This case study allowed for the panel to emphasize
the importance of fusing diverse worldviews of all populations to collaborate economically
to develop the Delta into what it has the potential to be.”
The workshop is part of a $1 million grant awarded to ULM’s Social Science Research
Lab (SSRL) in 2013.
Professor John W. Sutherlin, co-director of the SSRL said, “When we began talking
about developing case studies on women and minority businesses, I knew that Dr. Saulsberry’s
expertise and experiences would be critical.”
Sutherlin added, “ULM has so much talent. I did not have to search around the state
or outside of the Delta. We have resources and people here that do great things.
ULM is the natural place for those in the Delta to look for help.”
The SSRL has partnered with the University of Mississippi’s McLean Institute and Arkansas
State University's Delta Center for Economic Development to train leaders from an
eight-state area.
Other workshops will be held in Memphis, Tenn., Padukah, Ky., Cape Girardeau, Mo.,
Little Rock, Ark., and Washington, D.C.
For more information about the ULM SSRL, visit ulm.edu/ssrl
