The city of Vicksburg has hired Felicia Whittington Kent as project director for the recently acquired $3 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, according to information from the city.

The two-year initiative is designed to advance health literacy and enhance equitable community responses to COVID-19 while identifying and implementing the best practices for improving health literacy in Vicksburg. It is a partnership between Jackson State University, Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center and the city.

“Felicia comes highly recommended from Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center and is enormously qualified in her field,” Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs, Jr. said.

“Her extensive experience with grants includes managing over $60 million in federal, state, and private grant funds. We’re excited about this unique opportunity that will undoubtedly benefit our entire community and we proudly welcome Felicia to the team.”

The position will contribute to reducing COVID-19 infections and developing content and strategy to drive community participation, support population health behavior change and prepare and implement health literacy intervention for vulnerable populations in the city and surrounding areas in Warren County.

As an employee of Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health, Kent was director of revenue cycle management and executive director of development at Jackson State University.

She was senior director of development, executive director of the Owens Health and Wellness Center and director of the Family Life Center at Tougaloo College.

Kent has a master’s degree in urban affairs/criminology, a bachelor’s degree in business management from Jackson State University, a certificate in fundraising management from Purdue University and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.