Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to nominate the city’s best and brightest young leaders. From sports to government to tech, here are the Memphians who will be shaping our future.
Director of Emergency Rent Assistance and Housing Policy, The Works Inc.
“Urban planning to me is all about building relationships and working in partnership with communities,” says Haltom. “I wanted to start my planning career working in the city I knew best, my hometown.”
She’s come a long way since her first job at Shelby Farms. “I tended to the giant compost pile of bison manure after school and on the weekends,” she recalls.
Now, she works to save pandemic-strained families from losing their homes in the midst of a nationwide eviction crisis. “Since March of 2021, we’ve paired over 6,000 households facing eviction in Shelby County with free legal representation, and administered over $40 million in rent relief across over 15,000 households. … I want to build a city where all Memphians have access to stable, high-quality, affordable housing, and when crises come, have the support they need to stay in their homes.”
Research and Evaluation Specialist, The Works Inc.
“I’ve always been really interested in people — making authentic connections and genuine interactions with people,” says Pender.
The Memphis native decided to switch course from photojournalism to anthropology while in college, and returned from Kentucky to her hometown. “I was lucky because the anthropology program at the University of Memphis is nationally ranked, a great program.”
Now, with The Works, Inc., her mission is to make life better for all the people of Memphis. “We are a Community Development Corporation, a 501c( 3), and our focus has historically been on housing,” she says. “But we really take a holistic approach. For the health and wealth and safety of a family, you have to have a stable home environment, but we understand that you can’t address housing without addressing some other problems at the same time. … I do work across all of our programs. My background is medical anthropology.
“I think Memphis is unique, in that we are a predominantly Black city. But like a lot of Black Americans, our Black citizens don’t have the same job opportunities and educational opportunities. I want a city where everyone can flourish, regardless of the ZIP code that they were born into.”