LaToysha Brown (she/her)
Executive Director
LaToysha has a long history of commitment to the Freedom Project Network. Originally from the Mississippi Delta, LaToysha attended the Sunflower County Freedom Project as a middle- and high-school student. LaToysha went on to study sociology, specializing in criminal justice reform, equitable education, and Black studies at the University of Southern Mississippi. During her sophomore year, she served as a Teacher Advisor at the Rosedale Freedom Project, piloting a Restorative Justice Club that trained students in self-advocacy, peer mediation, community healing, and restorative practices through studying the Black Panther Party. Throughout college, she continued to develop the RFP by co-creating and facilitating programming where Fellows practice their agency by researching and acting on solutions for their communities and their lives. From 2018-2022, she was a member of the RFP Board of Directors. Before becoming the Executive Director of the Freedom Project Network, she served as a teacher at Abramson Sci Academy in New Orleans, where she taught Global Justice and designed a social studies curriculum partnered with the 1619 Project. LaToysha is a spoken-word artist (Nina Shakur), loves Beyonce, and spends her weekends listening to live bands. The Freedom Fighters who inspires her are Nina Simone and Assata Shakur. Her favorite songs by Nina Simone are Baltimore, Lilac Wine, and Everything Must Change. Assata Shakur said, “It is our duty to fight for freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” She is passionate about young people and adults working together to transform their communities, fighting for their freedoms.
Jeremiah Smith (he/him)
Director of Programming
Jeremiah has over a decade of experience leading youth organizing work in Mississippi. As a high school English teacher in Rosedale, Jeremiah worked with students and families to start the Rosedale Freedom Project. There, he spent a decade fundraising, launching the RFP’s filmmaking and theater programs, facilitating youth-led restorative and transformative justice projects, and helping to organize a multi-year campaign to stop the closure of Rosedale’s high school. When the Freedom Projects consolidated, Jeremiah moved into the Director of Programming role, where he now leads staff training and political education, supports program assessment, and anchors strategy development. Jeremiah is passionate about building people power. In his spare time, Jeremiah organizes with the Memphis Tenants Union, serves a rep on Right to the City’s Homes For All Leadership Assembly, and facilitates a weekly book club at Parchman Prison through the Mississippi Humanities Council. Jeremiah is passionate about the transformative power of political education, and the Freedom Fighter who most inspires him is Bob Moses.
Dr. Valerie Simpson (she/her)
SCFP Site Director
Valerie is a retired educator from Sunflower County with 30 years of classroom and administrative experience. Her first experience with SCFP was as a parent of a former Fellow. Today, Valerie serves as Site Director for the SCFP and leads the Leadership workshop, where she supports Fellows in developing their skills as leaders and organizers, and College Cohort, where she helps Fellows plan for the transition out of high school. Valerie has always believed that education is the means by which individuals can shape their existence and develop the necessary knowledge and skills to survive and to thrive in their current and future environments. Her most recent educational focus is to ensure that students are provided with the skills to get them to and through college. She is especially proud of the work she does with Fellows to develop their capacity to become leaders. The Freedom Fighter who inspires her the most is Shirley Chisholm who stated: "I'd like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts." Valerie’s goal is to develop in SCFP fellows “the guts” to stand up for that in which they believe and to not always submit to popular opinions.
Sarah Riback (she/her)
SCFP Program Director
Originally from Baltimore, Sarah is a graduate of University of Maryland, College Park, where she received degrees in English and Sociology, as well as helped to organize and win a campaign for 24-hour emergency contraceptive access for students. Sarah was deeply impacted by her experiences as a young student in Baltimore, where she first encountered the idea of education as liberation through young folks in her school organizing with the Algebra Project. She was organized around that idea by her peers, and is grateful for her first encounters with Mississippi and the Freedom Projects that stemmed from those relationships – first as a visiting student, and then as a summer reading teacher with the FPN. She taught 8th grade English at W.A. Higgins in Clarksdale prior to transitioning into her role as program director with the SCFP in 2021. During her time with the Freedom Project, Sarah has facilitated a number of literacy & arts workshops, piloted the screen printing program, designed liberatory reading curricula for 3-12 graders, and supported summer teachers in the classroom. She is passionate about the unlocking power of liberatory education and youth leadership. A freedom fighter that inspires her is Septima Clark.
Laura Sifuentes (she/her)
RFP Site Director
Laura is the Site director for the Rosedale Freedom Project. Laura grew up in Rosedale, and is a mother of one Alumni Fellow and three Freedom Fellows. Laura’s love for children first brought her to the classroom in 2005 as a tutor with the Delta Reads program, supporting second graders in reading through individual tutoring and small group interventions. Laura’s success in this role led the school to offer her a full-time position as a Kindergarten assistant teacher, and she served in this role from 2006 - 2010. When her twins were born, she enrolled at Mississippi Valley State University, completing her Bachelors in Early Childhood Education in 2013. The next six years saw Laura serving as a head start teacher, pre-K teacher, and substitute teacher throughout Sunflower County. In 2019, she returned to her native Rosedale and worked as a Early Head Start caregiver. That same year, her children began attending the Rosedale Freedom Project, and her experiences attending showcases, events, and Parent and Community Board meetings led her to become a teacher during Freedom Summer 2022. Although she always knew the RFP was a special place, the relationships that she built with the youth and other staff during the summer deepened her feeling, and she decided to take a full-time position in the Fall as an Americorp VISTA member, later becoming the Site Director in 2023. Laura facilitates the College Cohort and Script writing workshops at the RFP. Laura’s mission is to create a space that is safe and inclusive, supports young people’s mental health, allows for creative expression, and invites young people to step into their power through leadership and community. Outside of work, Laura enjoys spending time with her children, binge watching Nollywood movies, cooking, shopping and traveling. “You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.” – Fannie Lou Hamer
Kaitara Baker (she/her)
RFP Program Director + AmeriCorps VISTA Member
Kaitara is a Ruleville, MS resident who recently graduated from The University of Southern Mississippi with a major in Psychology along with a minor in Criminal Justice. Being a former Fellow of the Sunflower County Freedom Project, Kaitara witnessed firsthand the impact the Freedom Projects had on youth in the community. She then thought about what it was like on the opposite side of being part of the Freedom Project. During the summer of 2022, Kaitara became a middle school reading teacher at Rosedale and returned the next two summers, teaching reading and math at the Little Freedom School. After having a sense of fulfillment, noticing how much the fellows loved the Freedom Project, and being able to offer Fellows new perspectives, she decided to step into the role of Program Director through AmeriCorps as a yearlong VISTA member. Kaitara’s favorite Freedom Fighter is Marsha P Johnson because of how much she cared about LGBTQ+ individuals. She showed me how much love goes into being an activist. “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” When Kaitara has some free time, she spends it rewatching Criminal Minds, walking and listening to music, or writing fiction.
Camora Mosley (she/her)
MFP Site Director
Camora has worked with young people in Meridian, MS, her entire career. She first served as a teacher in early childhood education at Kingdom Kids Child Development Center, and then as an Academic Interventionist at Oakland Heights Elementary School. She also taught music theory, piano, and vocal performance at Camora’s School of Music, a business she started to help young people develop their talents and explore creatively, and is the founder and CEO of The United Queendom, a faith-based non-profit organization designed to teach, equip for success, and unite women of all generations, cultures, ages, and races. She has led as Music Director in, “The Wiz,” a stage play production at Meridian Community College, and has performed in several musicals at MCC and the Meridian Little Theater. She is currently a worship leader at her local church and uses the gift of song to uplift community members often. Mrs. Mosley also teaches life lessons and biblical principles to the youth of Love City Church, serves as a Director at G Phy G, a faith-based youth mentorship program, and is the Site Director at the Meridian Freedom Project. Camora is mother to two fun-loving boys, Norris and Camden, and the wife of her handsome husband, Norris. She is most inspired by Freedom fighter Ella Baker, who humbly served and organized youth during the civil rights movement. Camora aims to follow her example of leadership and lead the way for this generation of Freedom Fighters and world changers.
Dasia Harrigan (she/her)
MFP Program Director + 2024 Manne Fellow
Dasia is a recent graduate of SUNY Oneonta, earning degrees in Economics and Africana & Latinx Studies. During her time in college, she developed a deep passion for social justice and discovered her life’s goal: to help bridge the diversity gap within the field of economics. As president of several student organizations, Dasia led initiatives to support and uplift young Black women on campus while conducting research on labor economics, focusing specifically on how intersectionality shapes the experiences marginalized people have within the workforce. Now Dasia is embarking on an exciting new journey as a PD at the Freedom Project Network’s Meridian site. In this role, she facilitates empowering educational workshops for fellows, blending her economic and African American studies background with her strong commitment to social justice. This work not only has broadened her own perspective and political knowledge but also reinforces her dedication to making a meaningful impact in communities. In her spare time, she serves on the board of the Dara Ashley Foundation, enjoys exploring hiking trails, and loves spending time with her cat. Her favorite freedom fighter is Booker T. Washington!