Mission

Center for a Better South: a pragmatic, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to developing progressive ideas, policies and information for thinking leaders who want to make a difference in the American South.

• Watch a video now about the Center.

The Center, a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt organization, has been crafted in the spirit of the LQC Lamar Society, which was started in 1969 by "men and women who believed the South could achieve practical solutions to its problems, regardless of whether these men were liberal or conservative, white or black, Democrat or Republican, establishment or student."

Among the founders were newspaper publisher H. Brandt Ayers, former Sen. Terry Sanford and former Gov. William Winter. The group's formation led to the formation of the Southern Growth Policies Board and a book of essays, You Can't Eat Magnolias, both in 1971.

Annual output

• Major issues: The Center for a Better South annually seeks to issue a book of policy ideas on a major issue to help Southern policymakers grapple with them.
  
  
  • 2006: Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South
  • 2007: Getting Greener: Progressive Environmental Ideas for the American South.
  • 2008: The Center started work on a book of ideas of ways to improve elections and participation in the electoral process.
  • 2009: The Center held a conference to develop an Agenda for a Better South.
  • 2010: The Center is promoting the Agenda, planning another conference and working on a book that expands the ideas of the Agenda.
    
    
• The Center for a Better South's SouthPoll: The Center has plans for an annual survey of attitudes of Southerners will highlight regional and progressive trends.
  
  
• Commentaries: The Center's Fellows also will produce periodic op-ed commentaries on issues of public importance in Southern newspapers and regional magazines to attempt to move debates forward.
  
  
• Web forums: The Center maintains an active Web hub (www.bettersouth.org) and offers a blog (ThinkSouth.org) new media tools to promote its mission.

Board of Advisors

The Center for a Better South's Board of Advisors is an advisory board of key Southern leaders who agree to help the Center to raise money and provide input and on issues being developed by the Center. The Board of Advisers as of September 2007 includes:

The Hon. Roy E. Barnes, former governor of Georgia
The Hon. William Winter, former governor of Mississippi
The Hon. Ray Mabus, former governor of Mississippi
Mr. H. Brandt Ayers, Alabama
Mr. Warwick Sabin, Arkansas
Mr. Dave Beattie, Florida
Mr. Elliott Brack, Georgia
Mr. Linton Johnson, Georgia
Mr. Keith Mason, Georgia
Mr. Adam Saslow, Georgia
Dr. Annette Baker, North Carolina
Mr. Tom Lambeth, North Carolina
Mr. Ashley Thrift, North Carolina
Mr. Andrew Brack, South Carolina
Mr. Leo Fishman, South Carolina
Mr. John L.S. Simpkins, South Carolina
Mr. Douglas Dent, South Carolina
Mr. Kenneth Krawcheck, South Carolina
Mr. Charles "Pug" Ravenel, South Carolina
Mr. Samuel Tenenbaum, South Carolina
Mr. Maury Lane, Tennessee

Founding directors

The Center for a Better South is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All contributions to the Center are tax-deductible. Founding directors include:

Brack (hi-res photo)

Andy Brack edits and publishes CharlestonCurrents and Statehouse Report, a weekly legislative forecast and syndicated newspaper column. Brack, a former congressional candidate, also has a daily news service and communications strategy consulting business. Brack, a past president of the historic Rotary Club of Charleston, holds a master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor's degree from Duke University. He and his family live in Charleston, S.C.

Leo Fishman is a retired tax lawyer who is former mayor pro tem for the Town of Kiawah Island, S.C. After serving two years in the U. S. Marine Corps, Fishman graduated from Harvard College (B.A. Economics, 1961) and the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1964). Later, he worked with local communities in the Southeast as an administrator in President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. After a lengthy law practice in Washington, DC, where, among his clients, he represented a variety of nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, Fishman retired to South Carolina. Both he and his wife, Carol H. Fishman, are active in civic affairs

Simpkins

John L.S. Simpkins teaches constitutional law and other topics as a member of the faculty at the Charleston School of Law. A past associate director of the Richard W. Riley Institute at Furman University, he was in private practice in Washington, D.C., before joining academia. Simpkins has a law degree from Duke University and did his undergraduate work at Harvard University. He and his family live in Daniel Island, S.C.

More information

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