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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

And, no, it’s not too late for you to get your name on this elite list — for as little as $50! Write [e-mail missing] or call ShaWanda Jacome at 601.362.6121 ext. 16; make all checks payable to the Center for Violence Prevention:

• CARE Medical Clinics

Goddess ($1,000 and up)
• Professional Staffing Group

Queen ($500 and up)
• Mississippi Breast Center/Phillip B. Ley, MD, FACS

Princess Level ($250 and up)
• Staffers Inc.
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• Katie McClendon

Chick Level ($50 and up)
• Magnolia Roller Vixen
• Tom Head
• Donna Parks

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.