First African American nominated to head Delta authority

Corey Wiggins

President Biden has nominated Corey Wiggins, executive director of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, to be federal co-chair of the Delta Regional Authority. If confirmed by the Senate he would be the first African American to serve as a presidential appointee at the DRA, a regional development agency serving parts of eight states from Illinois to Louisiana, according to the Delta Grassroots Caucus.

"Corey Wiggins grew up in rural Mississippi and has demonstrated a deep commitment to public service throughout his distinguished career," the caucus said in a press release. Wiggins, a native of Hazelhurst in southwest Mississippi, has a master's degree on public health with an emphasis in health policy and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.