Nela Richardson, Ph.D., has built a career turning economic data into institutional intelligence for businesses, policymakers and workers navigating an increasingly uncertain labor market. WOMEN OF MOMENTUM 2026 | LEGACY RECOGNITIONINDEPENDENT EDITORIAL SELECTION BY INCITY MAGAZINE By Christopher D. Thomas | Publisher, inCity Magazine At a moment when artificial intelligence, demographic change and economic uncertainty...
How a Charlotte council member brought resident concerns back into one of the region’s most consequential transportation decisions and remained accountable as the political stakes changed Women of Momentum 2026 Honoree | By Christopher D. Thomas | Publisher, inCity Magazine On May 11, 2026, Reneé Perkins Johnson made a motion that changed the course of...
The partnership with Ford Motor Company and Stivers Ford offers a broader workforce lesson: stronger talent pipelines emerge when educators and employers share responsibility before the hiring stage. By Christopher D. Thomas | inCity Magazine MONTGOMERY, Ala. Trenholm State Community College marked a significant expansion of its automotive workforce training Tuesday, Aug. 18, with a...
The reputation that created your success may not fully represent the leader you have become. There is a stage of leadership growth that is rarely discussed. It does not happen when leaders are unknown. It does not happen when they are trying to establish credibility. It often happens after years of doing the work, building...
Part 1 There are moments in public leadership that don’t stay contained, and once they cross into public cost, they stop being personal mistakes and become institutional liabilities. They move beyond the individual decision.They extend into budgets, teams, legal exposure, and ultimately, into public trust. And once that happens, the conversation is no longer about...
By Christopher D. ThomasFounder, inMMGroup There is a moment that rarely gets named. It does not appear in pitch decks.It is not reflected in product demos.And it is almost never discussed publicly. But inside a certain class of companies, it is felt with increasing clarity. The very systems designed to reduce complexity begin to create...
A reflection on the role community colleges are playing in workforce mobility, regional resilience, and economic transformation. A reflection by Christopher D. Thomas – Founder, inMMGroup | Founder, inCity Magazine Across Alabama, some of the most consequential work shaping the future of communities is happening in places that rarely dominate national headlines. In cities and...
Women of Momentum Honoree • Chief Judge Cassandra Kirk There are leaders whose work is visible in headlines, and there are leaders whose impact is felt in the daily rhythms of people’s lives. Chief Judge Cassandra Kirk belongs to the latter category – the kind of public servant whose leadership does not seek attention, yet...
Tangela Q. Parker, Contributing Writer | Women’s Health Commentary My mentor was 50 when she died from heart disease.She was accomplished, disciplined, and deeply committed to the people around her. Nothing about her life suggested fragility. Yet her passing forced a difficult question into the open: how can a condition that claims more women’s lives...
Women of Momentum 2025 Honoree Saher does not lead with noise. She leads with truth. In a year obsessed with acceleration, Saher chose consistency. In a culture that rewards spectacle, she chose integrity. And in a creative economy that often confuses visibility with value, she built momentum the quieter, more enduring way, by staying present...