The above mural was designed and installed by artist Don Rimx in Old Fort, NC. The mural was organized by community partners and commissioned with support from over 100 individual donors to honor local civil rights leaders Albert Joyner, Sr. and George Sandlin.
“Mary Snow is a fantastic resource and deeply committed partner around advancing grassroots community leadership and social justice. I worked closely with Mary when she was with Rural Support Partners and have continued to work with her as an independent consultant, and I always find her to be thoughtful, responsive and detail-oriented as she helps keep projects on track toward goals. It’s a rare combination to find someone who combines deep values for equity and inclusion, collaborative skills for moving a group process, and project management skills to meet specific and timely goals. Mary has it all!
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https://www.shifthappenstoolkit.org. Please click here to view our consulting team members.
Below are clients from my firm’s workshops and capacity building efforts inspired by the book, “Shift Happens in Community: A Toolkit to Build Power & Ignite Change,” Co-authored by Mary Snow and Paula Swepson in 2021.
Dogwood Health Trust
Facilitated a workshop for grantees on best practices to engage structurally excluded communities in health equity initiatives. (November of 2023)
Umoja Health Wellness and Justice Collective
Facilitated a strategic planning retreat, provided six months of executive level coaching, and developed a fundraising plan to support their educational justice initiatives and substance use and trauma recovery initiatives. (August, 2023 - January of 2024)
Better Together Montgomery
Supported board and staff to learn how to develop and implement authentic community engagement strategies, build transformational partnerships, organize political power, and develop a healthy and equitable workplace culture. (February 2023 - August 2023)
McDowell Local Food Advisory Council
Supported board and staff to integrate a racial equity lens and principals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their organizational goals, activities, operations, and strategies. (January 2023 - April 2023)
McDowell Substance Use Coalition
Supported coalition members to build authentic relationships with grassroots leaders to address substance misuse in McDowell County. (April - May, 2022)
Caswell Health Collaborative & High Rock Community Center
Provided strategic advice, facilitation, and resources on authentic community engagement strategies that bring diverse community members together to advance a more inclusive Caswell County, NC. (November - February 2022)
BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation
Designed and Facilitated a workshop for grantees on best practices to engage structurally excluded communities in health equity initiatives. Based on tools from my book, “Shift Happens in Community: A Toolkit to Build Power & Ignite Change,” Co-Authored with Paula Swepson, Executive Director of West Marion, Inc.
(Completed in March 2021)
Assist nonprofits in Western North Carolina to apply for grants from federal, state, and national funders through the Leverage Fund. To date, secured a total of $6.5 million dollars.
(Ongoing since June 2020)
Assisted with research, data collection, and analysis to support successful implementation of their organization’s learning and evaluation plan through baseline research.
(A collaboration with Heather Edwards, Completed in February 2020)
Advise staff and board on strategies to facilitate community forums and support racial equity and solidarity building initiatives in McDowell County, NC. Also, advised leadership team on fundraising strategies and secured $4 million for movement building work between 2016 and 2022.
Project Report: Recommendations for a Healthy, Resilient, and Inclusive McDowell County, NC
Watch the UNC TV episode featuring this work titled, '“Access to Healthcare in McDowell County, NC.”
(Ongoing since 2017)
Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative
Provided strategic planning and facilitation support to a cross-sector collaborative of public health, education, and nonprofit leaders focused on addressing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in Watauga County, NC.
(Completed in September 2019)
Consultant for Rural Support Partners to the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust's Healthy Places Initiative, which invested $100 million in 10 financially disadvantaged, rural North Carolina counties over 10 years. The purpose of this role was to support health improvement strategies related to the food system, built environment, and clinical/community connections in Western North Carolina. (Completed December 2016)
Consultant for the Appalachia Funders Network’s Philanthropic Engagement Initiative. A partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission and Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation to increase philanthropic investments into the region’s economic transition. (Completed December 2016)
Foodshed Project for Yancey County, North Carolina
Consultant for the Yancey County Foodshed Project. A project to develop strategies to increase farm acreage, grow farmer income, and strengthen the local food economy in Yancey County. This project was in partnership with Emergent Opportunities, Inc.
Project Report: Action Plan to Increase Local Food Production and Farmer Income in Yancey County, North Carolina (Collaboration with Emergent Opportunities, completed January 2017)
International Projects
Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, England
Partnered with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to organize the international conference, “Property Rights in Transition: Challenges in Post-Conflict Kosovo.” (Completed July 2010)
Interviewed the United Nations Independent Expert in the Field of Cultural Rights for my Master’s Thesis on the economic, political, social, and cultural rights of women and girls in Eastern Africa and the Middle East. (Completed November 2010)
Authored petitions to the Council of Europe, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in an effort to challenge the forced eviction of a Roma Gypsy and Traveller community at Dale Farm, United Kingdom. (Completed July 2010)
Directed the “No Human Way to Kill” campaign around the World Day Against the Death Penalty. This campaign connected 26 universities and 18 prominent anti-death penalty organizations from across the USA, Canada, and United Kingdom for a live streamed panel discussion in NYC.(Completed October 2010)
Researched and interviewed community leaders on mental illness and persecution in Zimbabwe to support asylum cases for the Country of Origin Research Centre in the United Kingdom. (Completed May 2011)