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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.

Nic Lott Trip Burns

Name: Nic Lott

Location: Restaurant Week reception at Mississippi Museum of Art

Occupation: Mississippi Development Authority Director of Special Compliance Operations

Age: 32

An Accomplishment: First black student-body president of Ole Miss.

Lived in Jackson: 8 years

JFP reader SINCE: 2004

Last book read: John Maxwell’s “Developing the Leader Within You”

Favorite quote: “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.