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CEO

Mary Margaret White is the CEO of Mississippi Today. She works closely with the Mississippi Today leadership team to ensure collaboration and mission alignment throughout our nonprofit newsroom. Mary Margaret builds relationships with foundations, grant makers and impact donors to ensure reporters have the financial support they need to do their work. She was a fellow in the 2020 Online News Association’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator, an international executive training for women in media.

She is an advisory board member for the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Mary Margaret has a bachelor’s in English and journalism and a master’s in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. Prior to joining Mississippi Today, she served nearly a decade with the State of Mississippi in leadership positions at both Visit Mississippi and the Mississippi Arts Commission. Her work has appeared in The Listening Post Collective, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and on Mississippi Public Broadcasting Radio.

“Since our 2016 launch, we have been chipping away at ushering in a new age of journalism in Mississippi, one that is equitable, collaborative and community-centered. Our newsroom demands accountability from those in power and shines light on solutions that make our state stronger. Our nonprofit model allows us to provide the best journalism free of charge to readers while giving our supporters a way to invest in truth, transparency and integrity.”

— Mary Margaret White