Philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Darren Walker said Wednesday night at Mississippi Today’s 10th Anniversary Celebration that they believe it’s important to invest in the people who are building sustainable community solutions, and that’s why they decided to put resources into journalism in Mississippi. 

“It’s really easy for me to be bullish on Mississippi and its future,” said Walker, the president and CEO of Anonymous Content. “And so, I hope that people here understand that this country is watching you. This country is watching this state in this moment because it is a harbinger for the future of America.” 

The conversation between Walker and Powell Jobs, who is the founder and president of Emerson Collective, was moderated by Bill Bynum, the founding CEO of HOPE Credit Union and a board member for Deep South Today, Mississippi Today’s parent company.

It was part of an evening that also included a performance by the Tougaloo College Choir, a speech by best-selling author John Grisham and remarks by Mississippi Today founders Donna Barksdale and Andrew Lack, Jackson Mayor John Horhn, Deep South Today Executive Editor and Chief Content Officer Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today Editor-in-Chief Emily Wagster Pettus and Deep South Today board member Tray Hairston.

Emerson Collective, an investment and philanthropic company, is a financial supporter of Mississippi Today and Deep South Today and an investor in Anonymous Content, a global media company whose films include “The Revenant” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” 

“It’s really the exquisite entrepreneurs that I ended up meeting who are building community, solutions, durable, smart public private partnerships,” Powell Jobs said. “And what I found the first time that I came, when I toured around with (Bill Bynum) over a decade ago, was all the work that’s happening at the community level already well underway.”

Walker is a former president of the Ford Foundation, another funder of Mississippi Today. He and Powell Jobs said they choose to invest in local institutions instead of coming in assuming they can bring the solution. 

“We come to learn and meet people who are actually problem solving at the community level,” said Powell Jobs, whose late husband, Steve Jobs, was the co-founder of Apple. 

One of those solutions is local journalism. Emerson Collective has helped fund almost 100 newsrooms that have formed in the last decade, including Mississippi Today.

“Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen about 3,500 local newsrooms shut down,” Powell Jobs said. “And the business model just no longer works, mainly because of local advertising dollars. And so the nonprofit newsroom for local journalism is actually a truly elegant solution.” 

“Journalism is not all bad news,” Walker said. “Journalism should also inspire and help us see what is possible and what we can believe in.”

The sold-out event at the Two Mississippi Museums was part of a two-day event celebrating the nonprofit newsroom’s first decade of reporting. The celebration continues Thursday at the museums with Mississippi Today’s second annual “All In on Mississippi” summit, where leaders in the Deep South will discuss the challenges and opportunities the state faces. 

Clarification, 10/8/2026 this article has been updated to show Laurene Powell Jobs‘ full last name as Powell Jobs.