Wade Davis, the NFL’s first LGBT inclusion consultant and former NFL player, joined Perry Political Partners for a conversation about building community and engaging elections in this crucial midterm cycle. Davis currently consults for Google, Netflix, AppNexus, and others to co-create transformative solutions to build inclusive corporate cultures.

On Friday, July 6th Perry Political Partners was thrilled to welcome elected officials, current candidates, and members of our community to our Winston-Salem offices as Wade Davis discussed the vision and values he shares with our team.

We had a robust discussion of our commitment to diversity, the value of careful listening, the power of engaging across differences, and the necessity of authenticity.

Like Wade, our team of consultants is committed to providing our clients with guidance that reflects the complex intersections of identity of American life and politics.  If you missed us on Friday but are interested in coming to future events, sign up for our email updates here!  We will continue to host community events to share our vision and values with our community here in Winston-Salem, NC.

Perry Political Partnership will host a Meet & Greet with Wade Davis this Friday, July 6th at 6:30pm.  This event is an opportunity to meet our team here at Perry Political Partnership and to hear from former NFL player and the NFL’s first LGBT Inclusion Consultant, Wade Davis.  

Wade Davis is a thought leader, public speaker, and consultant on gender, race, and sexual orientation equality.  He is the NFL’s first LGBT inclusion consultant and currently consults for numerous professional sports leagues on issues at the intersection of sexism, racism, and homophobia.  In addition to creating league-wide inclusive leadership strategies and leading inclusion trainings for coaches and players, Wade currently consults for Google, Netflix, AppNexus, and others to co-create transformative solutions to build inclusive corporate cultures.

Perry Political Partnership is delighted to bring Wade Davis to our office to discuss his work and to welcome our community to learn more about our mission.   Perry Political Partnership, LLC is a privately held political consultancy located in Winston-Salem, NC. We identify new talent, develop civic capacity, train political candidates, deepend democratic engagement, and expand opportunities for real people to make a difference in their communities and our country.  Our team is small, highly skilled, and deeply dedicated.

We hope you will join us for this exciting first event to get to know our team and build connections for the future.  

Today the Anna Julia Cooper Center kicked off its annual Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools.  Fifty children in grades 3-5 will spend the next six weeks of their summer as part of this exciting program, offered free of charge to families by the AJC Center Freedom School. 

Perry Political Partnership principal Melissa Harris-Perry with Freedom School students and staff. Photo courtesy of Ann Nguyen. 

Perry Political Partnership principal, Melissa Harris-Perry, is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center. Its mission- to advance justice through intersectional scholarship and engagement – is manifest in the work of Freedom School.

Freedom Schools were started to bridge the gap for students from low income backgrounds who are more likely to lose skills in reading and other subjects over the summer.  This “summer slide,” as it is often called, can cause students to fall three to five years behind in school over time. That is exactly why AJC Center Associate Director and Assistant Professor of Education, Dr. Dani Parker-Moore initiated the program through the Anna Julia Cooper Center in 2017 to serve low income children in our community here in Winston-Salem.  

Freedom School curriculum is culturally specific and locally relevant.  The Anna Julia Cooper Center works to ensure this is true for the students and families participating in the program.  Last summer students heard from Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, who read and discussed Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford. 

Alicia Garza, founder of Black Lives Matter, visits Freedom School students in Winston-Salem, NC in summer 2017. Photo courtesy of Ann Nguyen. 

Last summer student participants demonstrated a five month reading gain after 6 weeks the AJC Center program.  Since its founding in 1995, Freedom Schools have offered summer reading programs to nearly 140,000 students. Dr. Harris-Perry and the Anna Julia Cooper Center look forward broadening their impact this summer and in the coming years through the Anna Julia Cooper Freedom School.  

As CEO of the Winston-Salem Urban League, James Perry is leading the Summer Youth Employment Program to help local teens to gain work experience in summer 2018. This award-winning program is serves low-income teens ages 15-19 and allows participants to earn a stipend while learning career skills from a local employer. This program is one of many that James Perry has launched to empower low-income youth in Winston-Salem.

On Wednesday June 20, 2018 Melissa Harris-Perry was scheduled to appear at the Grassroots Assembly for Childcare and Early Education hosted by The Center for Community Change Action. Due to flight delays, Dr. Harris-Perry was unable to attend but sent the following video to address the audience in support of childcare and early education.