We’re excited to announce that we’ve added Minyotta McKinney to our development team. As development manager, McKinney, who started Oct. 6, will support the planning and implementation of MLK50’s revenue strategies, with an emphasis on grants and individual donors.
“I was born and raised in Memphis and have seen the city change drastically over the years,” she said. “It is hard to watch the city that I love be plagued with a narrative that blames the citizens and not the systems. I chose to work at MLK50 because the organization centers Memphians in their work.”
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McKinney has been in the nonprofit world for more than six years. She started her career at the Boys & Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee after graduating from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a bachelor’s degree in English and Africana Studies.
When she returned to Memphis, she worked most recently for Mid South Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. She has experience in program management, grant writing, compliance, development and logistics.
McKinney said she’s excited to work at MLK50 and hopes she can contribute to the still-young organization’s growth. “My goal is to expand the reach of the development department and to improve donor interactions. I want to be helpful any way I can.”
When she’s not working, one of McKinney’s pleasures is true crime documentaries. She said she grew up watching back-to-back episodes of the show “Forensic Files” with her grandmother. “The investigation and how the criminals get caught fascinate me the most,” she said. “It is wild to me the things people are willing to say in documentaries. My favorite true crimes docs are the ones with a lot of community lore and history context.”
One of her favorite subjects? Doris Payne, the notorious jewel thief, whose crimes cover six decades. McKinney recommends both her memoir and the documentary, “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne.”
Ms. Doris, she says, “is an excellent storyteller and entertaining to watch.”
This story is brought to you byMLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today. MLK50 is also supported by these generous donors.