Background: Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities grew out of the work we were doing in our for-profit company, McMillan and Moss Research, Inc. Our research and analyses were being called for in cases involving civil rights, predatory lending, segregation in schools, institutionalized discrimination and community economic development. While we were drawn to this kind of work and attorneys realized the value of what we had to offer, many funders could not hire us through our for-profit company. In order to pursue our new mission, we formed CGISC in 2000 as a 501(c)3 non-profit.
Funders: We have received funding from Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Fund for Southern Communities, Warner Foundation, the Racial Justice Collaborative, the Paul Green Foundation, Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC), NAACP, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Reidsville Area Foundation and Community Water Center of California.
Other Support: We have also received strong support from other groups who share our goals. In March of 2004, we received an award of appreciation from the N.C. Fair Housing Center. In the fall of 2004, our work on fighting institutionalized discrimination was the focus of the annual conference of the Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2009, CGISC was featured in the January/February edition of Miller McCune (now Pacific Standard), a journal which provides a unique perspective and insight into social, political, and economic forces, with an emphasis on fact-based, research-driven content.
Clients: Among others, we have conducted research and/or provided expert witness testimony for:
| • Brancart & Brancart of Loma Mar, CA | • Brunini, Attorneys at Law | |
| • California Rural Legal Assistance | • Capital Defender's Office of Atlanta, GA | |
| • Center for Civil Rights at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
• Central Piedmont Community College | |
| • Chatham County, NC | • Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights | |
| • Common Cause of North Carolina | • Dechert LLP | |
| • Fair Housing South Carolina | • Florida Equal Justice Center | |
| • Florida Legal Services | • Great Schools in Wake | |
| • Housing Rights Center | • Inclusive Communities Project of Dallas, Texas | |
| • Institute for Minority Economic Development | • International Development and Planning, L.L.C. | |
| • James Sprunt Community College | • Julius L. Chambers Center for Civil Rights | |
| • Kirkland and Ellis, LLP | • Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law | |
| • Leading Age North Carolina | • Legal Aid of North Carolina | |
| • Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County | • Linck Harris Law Group, PLLC | |
| • McCraney, Coco & Lee, PLLC | • McKay Lawler Franklin & Foreman, PLLC | |
| • Miami Valley Fair Housing Center | • Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America | • Miller Coors LLC | • National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration |
| • New Hill Community Association | • North Carolina A&T State University | |
| • Northwest Texas Legal Aid | • Parker Poe | |
| • Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC, of Washington, DC | • Richards Law Firm | |
| • Stella Adams Fair Housing | • The Anderson Group of Albany, NY | |
| • The Googasian Firm, P.C. | • The Law Office of Edana E. Lewis | |
| • City of Durham, NC | • Wake County, NC |
For a listing of past legal cases, see Expert Witness Work.
Parnell and Joyner in their office, a renovated Primitive Baptist church, circa 1900, moved to their farm and restored.
Staff:
President:
Ann Joyner, MBA
ann@mcmoss.org
Ann's Bio
Vice President:
Allan Parnell, PhD
allanmparnell@gmail.com
Allan's Bio
Program Coordinator:
Carolyn Christman, MA
chris@mcmoss.org
Administrative Services:
Alison Taylor
GIS Consultants:
Ben Marsh, PhD, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, Bucknell University
Greg Dobson, GISP, Director of Geospatial Technology, UNC Asheville's NEMAC.