Johnston Now Honors: Nonprofit of the Year Award 2024

By Jamie Strickland

If you’ve ever wondered what impact one person might be able to have on a community, just look at Activate Selma.

This nonprofit organization has accomplished much collectively, but it’s all due to the small individual actions taken by each of its members.

The group has been receiving more and more attention since its inception in 2018, and its this year’s Johnston Now Honors Nonprofit of the Year Award recipient.

What began as four people getting together for coffee each week has grown into a grassroots effort that has sparked big transformations in Selma.

“You have to activate yourself first,” said founding member Cindy Brookshire. “By changing ourselves, we change our communities.”

Made up of business owners, residents, investors and volunteers, the weekly gathering now sees upwards of 30 people on a regular basis. The motivations of each person may differ slightly, but the collective mission is the same: To help their community grow and prosper.

“Everyone wants to grow individually, but you have to grow as a town, we grow together,” board member Ron Hester said. “It’s not really a personal agenda…it doesn’t work if it's all about you. The group's focus has been on revitalizing the downtown area, or “Selma’s front porch,” as they refer to it. 

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