In honor of Black History Month, the Mississippi Department of Transportation is highlighting two MDOT employees, David Kenney and Terrance Yarbrough.
Yarbrough is the Director of Human Resources for MDOT where he manages HR functions for more than 2,000 people. He made MDOT history when he became the first African-American Human Resources Director at the agency.
“About 20 years ago, when I was leaving college, my Godfather was selected by Gov. Musgrove to be the very first African-American Lt. Colonel for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety,” said Yarbrough. “So, 20 years later, to experience that as an employee is really unique, that’s something we’ll share and be able to share the experiences of how it was.”
Prior to MDOT, Yarbrough spent more than a decade working as the Director of Service Retirement for the Public Employees Retirement System, where he managed a group of retirement analysts.
Yarbrough has been with MDOT since March 2021.
Kenney is a Public Information Officer for MDOT where he provides critical information to the public and news media about Mississippi’s infrastructure for the northern region of the state. Prior to MDOT, Kenney worked as a TV news reporter for more than 27 years. He started his career in news at a station in Mason City, Iowa, where he became the first person of color on air.
“People would say to me that they had never really seen anybody on air, and I was proud to be that first person,” said Kenney. “I felt it was a big responsibility for me to do good and to always be fair and accurate and kind to people, so that’s what I did.”
After his time in Iowa, Kenney accepted a position as a journalist with WLBT in Jackson, where he worked for nearly 25 years.
Kenney has been with MDOT since August 2021.
For more information on how MDOT salutes Black History Month visit the Civil Rights Division page on GoMdot.com.
