Building a stronger Mississippi, together
Our Mission
Working Together Mississippi is revitalizing Mississippi’s civic infrastructure by developing leaders in community-based institutions, strengthening their capacity for collective action, and finding solutions to the issues that matter most to Mississippians’ lives and livelihoods.
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Rethink Mississippi
Since 2010, 80,000 more people have moved out of Mississippi than have moved in. If they formed a city, it would be the second largest in the state — and one of the best-educated places in the country.
Rethink Mississippi is our initiative to understand and reverse the state's brain drain. In partnership with Mississippi Today and the University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies, we launched the state's first-ever scientific study dedicated to understanding why Mississippians leave, why they stay, and what could bring them back.
Mississippi taxpayers invest roughly $170,000 in every child who passes through K-12 and public university. When graduates leave for opportunities elsewhere, the return on that investment goes with them. Rethink Mississippi is working to change that equation.
The Question
What makes people choose where to live — and what would make Mississippi the answer?
The Research
The first scientific study of its kind, surveying Mississippians and expats across 48 states and 17 countries.
The Goal
Data-driven strategies to help Mississippi compete for talent and keep its best and brightest.
From the Brain Drain Series on Mississippi Today
Mississippi's slow but steady 'brain drain' is the state's greatest threat
July 15, 2025 · Mississippi Today
BRAIN DRAIN SERIESFAQ: The Mississippi 'Brain Drain' crisis
July 15, 2025 · Mississippi Today
BRAIN DRAIN SERIESHow college football explains the Mississippi brain drain
January 19, 2026 · Mississippi Today
Upcoming Events
Join us in your community or at one of our statewide convenings.
Community institutions that once brought people together across political lines – places of worship, civic associations, social clubs – have been rapidly losing members and influence. We are increasingly disconnected from our communities and polarized in our attitudes. We rarely build relationships with people who don’t look like us, think like us, and vote like us. As a result, we have lost the ability to work together.
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