Alabama Arise 2023 Annual Report
2023 Annual Report
Building a Better Alabama for All
2023 Annual Report
Building a Better Alabama for All
Letter from our Executive Director
2023 was a banner year for Alabama Arise and Alabama Arise Action members. We advanced dignity, equity and justice, including:
- Cutting the state grocery tax in half!
- Protecting Alabamians’ health coverage during the Medicaid unwinding.
- Diversifying our membership, with data showing Arise met our goal of members with low incomes.
Letter from our Executive Director
2023 was a banner year for Alabama Arise and Alabama Arise Action members. We advanced dignity, equity and justice, including:
- Cutting the state grocery tax in half!
- Protecting Alabamians’ health coverage during the Medicaid unwinding.
- Diversifying our membership, with data showing Arise met our goal of members with low incomes.
Our Mission
Alabama Arise is a 501(c)(3) statewide, member-led organization advancing public policies to improve the lives of Alabamians who are marginalized by poverty. Our membership includes faith-based, community, nonprofit and civic groups, grassroots leaders and individuals from across Alabama.
Alabama Arise Action is the 501(c)(4) partner organization of Alabama Arise. Alabama Arise Action engages in direct lobbying at the Legislature.
Our Vision
Arise envisions an Alabama…
… where all people have resources and opportunities to reach their potential to live happy, productive lives, and each successive generation is ensured a secure and healthy future.
… where all government leaders are responsive, inclusive and justice-serving, and the people are engaged in the policy-making process.
… where all people live with concern for the common good and respect for the humanity of every person.
To learn more about who we are, click here.
Our agenda at the State House
As a member-led organization, we work year-round on policy priorities decided annually by our membership base. Last year, Arise members across Alabama came together at our Annual Meeting and voted on our 2023 policy agenda. We know that, together, we will build a more inclusive future for our state.
Learn about the progress we made on your policy priorities below, and make sure to keep an eye out for these icons throughout the report for more information.
2023 Policy Priorities
Click on a priority to learn more!
The General Fund and education budgets are larger this year than last. They include pay raises for state employees and increased funding for Medicaid, mental health care and other state services. We also defeated a bill that would have created private school vouchers.
It was a big year at the Legislature for tax justice! We reduced the state sales tax on groceries by half, which will help families across Alabama make ends meet. Untaxing groceries is a longstanding priority for Arise and our members.
Arise membership was crucial in defeating a bill that would have criminalized many efforts to assist voters with absentee ballot applications or completed ballots. This legislation could have prevented many Alabamians from having their voices heard.
We successfully supported a new law that will make it harder for the state to suspend people’s driver’s licenses for failure to pay traffic tickets. A bill to reform the Habitual Felony Offender Act also gained momentum, passing the House and a Senate committee.
We were glad to see a great public hearing for a bill to make judicial override retroactive and require a unanimous jury sentence to impose the death penalty. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but we expect to support it again next session.
Lawmakers did not allocate any COVID-19 relief money specifically for public transit. But we’re moving our focus to administrative advocacy for some of these funds to be used to meet transportation needs.
We supported the introduction of a payday lending reform bill this year and worked to identify a new legislative champion on this issue. We’re hopeful for movement on a bill next year.
What We Do
Policy Analysis
The Arise policy team studies current state policies and legislative proposals and analyzes their impact on people living in or near poverty.
Statewide Organizing
Arise organizes members and people with low incomes to speak out on the development of public policies that affect their lives.
Citizen Advocacy
Arise works to equip its members for active participation in the democratic process, including legislative advocacy.
Policy Analysis
POLICY ANALYSIS IN ACTION
Community champions for cervical cancer prevention
Arise worked with six community advocates with the Human Rights Watch and the Southern Black Rural Women’s Initiative across the Black Belt this year to reduce the rates of cervical cancer across Alabama. Cervical cancer has a 93% survival rate when detected and treated early, but Alabama lags behind in treatment and prevention. In some areas, the survival rate for Black women is as low as 63%. These advocates have been working to get people the preventive care they need by having conversations with their communities about why Alabama is lagging behind, explaining the impact of getting treated early and connecting people with the resources to do so. Each advocate has hosted community events, distributed educational flyers, written opinion pieces in their local newspapers and more. The advocates also hosted a Cervical Cancer Legislative Advocacy Day at the State House to speak with legislators about increasing the funding for the Alabama Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
"We don’t have any local OB-GYNs or transportation to get to a doctor where I live. I drove one woman to get tested who is 92 years old and had never been able to get a mammogram or a pap smear. Starting this work, I thought if I helped one person, we would be doing a good job – but I know we’ve helped more. It’s great to be with this group of awesome women who are working together to get the word out."
Linda Finklea, Cervical Cancer Community Advocate
Together we accomplished
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Cutting the state grocery tax in half. HB 479 will save a family of four around $300 a year when the law is fully enacted as soon as September 2024.
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Restoring driver’s licenses to Alabamians who lost their licenses over an inability to pay fines and fees. SB 154 will reconnect nearly 170,000 Alabamians back to their community and workplaces.
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Laying the groundwork for Medicaid expansion. We passed a bill to create a Medicaid reserve fund, and the Legislature held its first-ever formal committee hearing on the health coverage gap.
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Investing in child care and mental health care through improvements in the General Fund budget. We also defeated efforts, including HB 295 and SB 202, to create private school vouchers.
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Releasing the Homecoming: The Greater Birmingham Community Speaks on Regional Cooperation and a More Inclusive Economy report. This report identifies barriers standing in the way of equitably sharing economic prosperity in the Birmingham area and outlines policy solutions for local governments. Read this report here.
By the numbers
In June, we ended one of the most significant legislative sessions ever for Arise and our supporters. Through timely and persistent advocacy, Arise members helped build a better, more equitable Alabama. To learn more about the bills we worked on during the 2023 legislative session, visit our Bills of Interest page.
Providing accurate, easily digestible information about issues impacting people with low incomes is one way we work to build a better Alabama for all. When you share Arise’s information, tools and events with your community, you help us reach more people!
Statewide Organizing
STATEWIDE ORGANIZING IN ACTION
Working with rural communities to close the health coverage gap
This year, the Cover Alabama coalition and Arise’s campaign and organizing teams worked together to reach people directly impacted by the fight for Medicaid expansion. Together, we hosted four major events, including a health fair in Fort Payne and three town halls in Baldwin, Escambia and Walker counties. We focused on rural areas because they are more likely to be struggling to support their hospitals in the absence of Medicaid expansion. Through our events, we saw expanded support in these rural districts, which all are represented by key legislative leaders. In Fort Payne, we provided needed medical services with an opportunity to learn more about the coverage gap and hear from people in their community about how expansion would help meet the mental health needs in DeKalb County. At our town halls, we heard presentations from PARCA about their research findings on expansion and from panelists of local health care providers who are filling the gap about how urgent expansion is for their community.
"We heard from health care providers about the urgent need for Medicaid expansion. Their organizations are the ones trying to serve people in the coverage gap. They are telling us that they can only do so much. We need expansion now."
Presdelane Harris, Organizing Director
Together we accomplished
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Working with Alabamians who have Medicaid coverage to maintain their coverage through the Medicaid Unwinding Task Force or find options if they are no longer eligible. As the continued coverage requirements ended on April 1, Arise and our task force partners also worked with Alabama Medicaid to support communication and outreach strategies.
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Convening an Alabama Child Nutrition Workgroup focused on school and summer meals for children with Feeding Alabama and the Alabama Department of Education. We also maintained two other hunger working groups. These efforts have led to an increase in children’s access to free school meals.
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Growing our membership diversity and benefits to strengthen Arise’s connection to the community and those most impacted by state policy. We ramped up our gift membership program, and gift members made up about 15% of Arise’s 2023 membership. We began quarterly New Member Orientations and initiated a process to increase our Spanish-language resources.
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Gathering in person for our Annual Meeting for the first time since 2019 and hosting our first ever “hybrid” Annual Meeting. We are grateful that about 250 members attended and more than 400 members voted on our 2023 policy priorities. This member engagement ensures our work stays focused on the issues Alabamians care about the most.
By the numbers
Arise’s power is in our people. We believe people experiencing poverty should be the leading voice in the development of public policies that affect their lives. Because of this core value, we are a member-led organization, and our staff organizes people across the state who are living in poverty. We also have been working to increase membership among people living in poverty, young people and BIPOC Alabamians through our gift membership program, which completed its first full year in 2023.
Citizen Advocacy
CITIZEN ADVOCACY IN ACTION
A hard-fought, immediate tax reduction for Alabamians with low incomes
After 30 years of Arise members leading the call to untax groceries, we helped pass legislation this year to cut the 4% state grocery tax in half! This reduction could save an Alabama family of four about $300 a year when the law is fully enacted. That will make a tangible difference for families struggling to make ends meet. This incredible win is a story of our members’ persistence. Decades of advocacy showed lawmakers that this was possible, and this year’s vast show of support got it over the finish line. Members showed up in droves by attending Arise’s Legislative Day, calling and emailing their lawmakers hundreds of times, and showing elected officials the urgency needed to push the bill through the Legislature. We also helped protect education funding and set the stage to finish the job of untaxing groceries. The law requires at least 3.5% revenue growth next year for the Education Trust Fund (ETF) before the rest of the 2-cent grocery tax cut takes effect. And a separate resolution established a commission to determine a responsible path to eliminate the remaining state sales tax on groceries.
"Arise members’ years of advocacy and persistence this session to untax groceries is the reason this bill passed. I look forward to our members continuing to have their voices heard as we work to cut the rest of the state grocery tax!"
Akiesha Anderson, Policy and Advocacy Director
Together we accomplished
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Making our voices heard at Legislative Day. More than 100 Arise members came together to advocate for untaxing groceries.
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Hosting the first Cover Alabama Lobby Day. About 80 partners came to the State House to advocate for Alabama to expand Medicaid and hear from workers in the coverage gap on the urgency of expanding Medicaid.
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Convening the first Cervical Cancer Legislative Advocacy Day. About 45 champions for cervical cancer prevention joined together at the State House to ask their representatives to increase funding for the Alabama Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
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Blocking harmful legislation that would have undermined voting rights. HB 209 would have criminalized many efforts to assist voters with absentee ballot applications or completed ballots. Arise joined partners across Alabama in speaking out to stop this bill.
By the numbers
Arise values connection. We connect people with their lawmakers, organizations with organizations, and neighbors with neighbors. We must actively engage and include all of us to build a better Alabama.
Our Membership
We strive to create a state where those most affected by public policy influence and contribute to those policies. Our membership is our people power, and their financial contributions hold us accountable to doing the work our membership drives.
Because members are so critical to our mission and vision at Arise, we are working to diversify our membership. Our short-term goals are to reflect the demographics of Alabama:
17% people with low incomes
10% young people
32% people of color
We have made progress from when this project began, according to survey data we have collected from our members. Our data shows that our membership in 2023 was:
23% people with low incomes
5% young people
21% people of color
We will continue to work toward these membership goals in 2024. If you haven’t taken our membership survey yet, you can do so here.
This year, we had members in 50 out of 67 counties!
Financial Report
FY23
July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023
Alabama Arise
Total revenue & support
Total revenue & support................................................$2,110,273
Grants & contracts for FY 23..…….........................................$1,857,724
Member giving ……………...……………………..................................$225,571
Other support.............................................................................$26,978
Total revenue & support.......................$2,110,273
Grants & contracts for FY 23..…...............................$1,857,724
Member giving……………….$225,571
Other support.....................$26,978
Total expenditures
Total expenditures..........................................................$2,103,123
Organizing……….....................................................................…..$583,158
Policy……………...……………………...................................................$588,700
Advocacy....................................................................................$931,265
Total expenditures......$2,103,123
Organizing……….................$583,158
Policy……………...……………...$588,700
Advocacy............................$931,265
Funding Partners
Foundations
Alabama Civil Justice Foundation
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Community Foundation of South Alabama
The Gratitude Foundation
Kresge Foundation
Marguerite Casey Foundation
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
Rx Foundation
The Women’s Foundation of Alabama
Organizations
Alabama Forward
CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Community Catalyst
Ebsco Industries Inc.
Economic Policy Institute | Southern Mindshift Project
EARN in the South | Southern Worker Power Project
Human Rights Watch, Inc.
Leonard Davis Health Initiative
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Omidyar Group
The Just Trust for Education
Together for Medicaid
Alabama Arise Action
Total revenue & support
Total revenue & support........................................................$82,630
Member Groups………................................................................…..$49,485
Individual donations……………...……......……………….........................$12,129
Other support...................................................................................$1,500
Operating reserves.........................................................................$19,516
Total revenue & support............................$82,630
Member Groups……….........$49,485
Individual donations…........$12,129
Other support.......................$1,500
Operating reserves.............$19,516
Total expenditures
Total expenditures..................................................................$82,630
Advocacy & outreach……….............................................................$28,704
Legislative advocacy……………...……......………………..........................$53,926
Total expenditures...........$82,630
Advocacy & outreach………..$28,704
Legislative advocacy………….$53,926
Funding Partners
We’re so grateful for all of our member groups who are the primary funders of Alabama Arise Action. You can find a list of our member group partners here.
Arise’s Leadership
Alabama Arise Board of Directors
October 2022 - September 2023
Kathy Vincent, President
Retired, Alabama Department of Public Health
Montgomery, Alabama
Shakita Brooks Jones, Vice President
Executive Director, Central Alabama Alliance, Resource and Advocacy Center (CAARAC)
Wetumpka, Alabama
Benard Simelton, Treasurer
President, Alabama State Conference of the NAACP
Harvest, Alabama
Hon. James Scott Sledge, Secretary
Retired, Federal Judge
Gadsden, Alabama
Ashley Edwards
Social Worker/Investigator, Federal Defender Program for the Middle District of Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Susan Ellis
Executive Director,
People First of Alabama
Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Ana Delia Espino
Community Volunteer
Baileyton, Alabama
Benga Harrison
Retired, United Way Hands On
Birmingham, Alabama
Rev. Clyde W. Jones, Jr.
Associate Minister, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church
Daphne, Alabama
Kenneth Tyrone King
Community Volunteer, Church of the Reconciler
Birmingham, Alabama
Audrey Noel
Office Manager, Community Enabler Developer
Anniston, Alabama
Tiearra Pettway
Community Volunteer, Bay Area Women Coalition
Mobile, Alabama
Judith Taylor
Community Volunteer, Grace Presbyterian Church
Northport, Alabama
Tari Williams
Organizing Director, Greater Birmingham Ministries
Birmingham, Alabama
Dr. Carole Zugazaga
Chair and Professor, Auburn University Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work
Auburn, Alabama
Alabama Arise Action Board of Directors
March 2022 - February 2023
Kathy Vincent, President
Retired, Alabama Department of Public Health
Montgomery, Alabama
Shakita Brooks Jones, Vice President
Executive Director, Central Alabama Alliance, Resource and Advocacy Center (CAARAC)
Wetumpka, Alabama
Benard Simelton, Treasurer
President, Alabama State Conference of the NAACP
Harvest, Alabama
Rev. Carolyn Foster, Secretary
Faith in Community Coordinator, Greater Birmingham Ministries
Birmingham, Alabama
Susan Ellis
Executive Director, People First of Alabama
Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Ana Delia Espino
Executive Director, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Baileyton, Alabama
Benga Harrison
Retired, United Way Hands On
Birmingham, Alabama
Rev. Clyde W. Jones, Jr.
Associate Minister, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church
Daphne, Alabama
Kenneth Tyrone King
Community Volunteer, Church of the Reconciler
Birmingham, Alabama
Roger McCullough
Retired, Cooper Green Mercy Hospital
Birmingham, Alabama
Audrey Noel
Office Manager, Community Enabler Developer
Anniston, Alabama
Hon. James Scott Sledge
Retired, Federal Judge
Gadsden, Alabama
Judith Taylor
Community Volunteer, Grace Presbyterian Church
Northport, Alabama
Dr. Carole Zugazaga
Chair and Professor, Auburn University Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work
Auburn, Alabama
Alabama Arise and Alabama Arise Action Staff
(July 2022 - June 2023)
Robyn Hyden, Executive Director
Akiesha Anderson, Policy and Advocacy Director
Presdelane Harris, Organizing Director
Chris Sanders, Communications Director
Jacob Smith, Development Director
McKenzie Burton, Development Associate
Carol Gundlach, Senior Policy Analyst
Jennifer Harris, Health Policy Advocate
Rebecca Howard, former Policy and Advocacy Director
Stan Johnson, Organizer for North Alabama
Jilisa Milton, former State Policy Fellow
Mike Nicholson, Policy Analyst
Matt Okarmus, Communications Associate
Whit Sides, Cover Alabama Storyteller
Juliette Singleton, Office Manager
Debbie Smith, Cover Alabama Campaign Director
Celida Soto, former Hunger Policy Advocate
David Stout, Legislative Affairs Coordinator
Formeeca Tripp, Southeast Alabama Organizer
Wendy Tucker, Bookkeeper
Dev Wakeley, Worker Policy Advocate
Whitney Washington, Communications Associate