Ms Melbah McAfee Smith Ret Exec Director Mississip

Vernon and Melbah discuss the role women have played in the cooperative movement and in the facets of the movement that she has personally been involved with; and some of her experiences in working with groups to help form cooperatives and her personal experience of as a member of a local cooperative. Ms. McAfee Smith worked for nearly 40 years as a trusted co-op developer in some of the most impoverished areas of the country. She started her career with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, returning to her home state to lead the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives and the Mississippi Cooperative Development Center. Her visionary leadership and hands-on, grassroots approach to building communities have helped bring health care, economic development, and social justice to people in need through the cooperative model.Mrs. Smith was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame in 2009.