BOARD OF ADVISORS

Monica Cannon is the Director of Community Outreach at Midtown Partners, a 501(c)3 community development corporation investing in the people of Midtown, Jackson, MS.

Jennifer West is the City of Jackson Neighborhood Services Manager, former President of the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods and former President of the Midtown Neighborhood Association.

Jhai Keeton is a career economic development professional who first worked with Millsaps Avenue during his time as the Deputy Director of Planning and Development for the City of Jackson.

Paul Thomas is the Director of Business Analysts at ELSEWorks, a 501(c)3 organization within the Else School of Management providing pro bono consulting to businesses in Jackson, MS.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Rucker Culpepper

Before starting Millsaps Avenue with his brother Charles, Rucker co-founded Kesch–a designer rug company represented from Aspen to Dubai–with designer Amy Hughes and Alem Haidary (his old Afghan interpreter from time in the Marine Corps). Rucker is also the Managing Member of Midtown Opportunity Fund. Before entering the private sector, he deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Marine infantry officer. He graduated in the top 5% of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a minor in Chinese. He also holds a master’s degree from the University of Oxford and certificates from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and Harvard Business School. He is a licensed general contractor.

Charles Culpepper

Charles Culpepper has more than a decade of experience in finance. He began as an intern for a hotel development and management company, and following college worked as a bank examiner for the State of Mississippi. He then joined the corporate finance department of Summit Holdings as a financial analyst before accepting an offer from Freedom Truck Finance to manage their accounting and finance department. Charles co-founded Millsaps Avenue in 2017 with his brother Rucker. He holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in international business and another in Chinese, with minors in mathematics and economics from Mississippi State University. He also studied world trade at the Beijing Institute of Technology and National Taipei University.