RVA CENTER FOR JUSTICE TEAM SELECTED FOR NATIONAL HEAL FOOD ALLIANCE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

The RVA Center for Justice is proud to announce that four of its leaders—Attorney Miller, LeBroderick, Dr. Long, and Morgan Stanley—have been accepted into the 2025 School of Political Leadership (SoPL) Cohort through the HEAL Food Alliance, a national coalition working at the intersection of health, environment, agriculture, and labor.

Operating under the team name Mississippi Fresh, the cohort will focus on leveraging grassroots leadership and policy advocacy to address food access and health inequities across the Mississippi Delta. Mississippi Fresh will mobilize its Delta GREENS Food Policy Council (FPC) to empower Black farmers in the region who grow fresh produce and distribute it directly to patients at rural health clinics. Through this work, the team aims to increase access to healthy, local food and advocate for state-level adoption of Medicaid 1115 demonstration waivers—a transformative policy that supports the use of food as medicine.

“This is more than a fellowship—it’s a chance to build power, improve health outcomes, and elevate farmer-led solutions in a region too often overlooked,” said Dr. Long. “We are honored to join other changemakers across the country in advancing food justice through HEAL.”

The SoPL program equips frontline leaders with the tools to organize, strategize, and drive policy change within their communities. Mississippi Fresh’s participation marks a pivotal step in the RVA Center for Justice’s ongoing commitment to equity, health, and systems change in the South.