Civil Rights Activists

Dorothy Cotton is a civil rights activist, lecturer, educator and writer. For many years she held the position of Education Director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). She is the inspiration behind The Dorothy Cotton Institute, in Ithaca, New York Cotton was one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s closest confidantes.

Kirby Edmonds is a program coordinator and Senior Fellow for the Dorothy Cotton Institute. In this capacity he manages and delivers programs on human rights education to public school educators and community youth workers. He is also the managing partner of TFC (Training for Change) Associates, a human relations training and consulting firm based in Ithaca, New York.