Kali Akuno is a cofounder and codirector of Cooperation Jackson. Previously, Akuno served as the director of Special Projects and External Funding in the mayoral administration of the late Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, MS. He has also served as the codirector of the US Human Rights Network, the executive director of the Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) based in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Katrina, and was a cofounder of the School of Social Justice and Community Development (SSJCD)—a public school serving the academic needs of low-income African American and Latinx communities in Oakland, CA.