Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group

Build Healthy Places Network just released an update to their resource, "A Playbook for New Rural Healthcare Partnership Models of Investment." This 2024 follow-up with organizations featured in the original playbook provides a richer understanding of the partnership landscape. https://lnkd.in/ennBwg6A

In this webinar recording, Food and Society at Aspen Institute hosts a conversation on the parallels between the past and today’s current struggle for food and economic justice and dives into how community organizing, policy, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration play a pivotal role in addressing the root causes of rural hunger and food insecurity. https://lnkd.in/g38isUb4

FrameWorks Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Network of Public Health Institutes partnered to create a report on talking about health disparities in rural contexts and an accompanying communications toolkit for reframing health disparities. Join their webinar on Wednesday, July 31, from 3 to 4 pm ET for a guided tour of these resources and other brand-new insights for reframing the conversation about health equity in rural America. https://lnkd.in/eTUJWyh4 Report: https://lnkd.in/e6SsX-xB Communications toolkit: https://lnkd.in/eJy_bQSC

The Rural Assembly will present its virtual gathering, Rural Assembly Everywhere: Nurturing Thriving Communities, on Aug 1 from 1—3 pm ET. Register to hear from rural leaders, organizers, community workers, and artists and explore what it means to nourish a thriving rural community. https://lnkd.in/eAF3G3k

This week's new #ReimagineRural podcast episode highlights how a group of local farmers in Isabella County helped bring in the largest wind farm in Michigan, overcoming controversy and their own skepticism by doing their due diligence & negotiating a fair & equitable lease that puts the community first. Stories about rural places struggling with decisions about clean energy installations often focus on the national issues and how outsiders try to influence the process. But the trade-offs for people living in rural places are real. As more rural places continue to consider these opportunities, it's important to orient around how new projects can help solve local problems and take a community-centered approach. Thanks to Matt Graham, Tracy House, Bob Walton, Paul Gross, Albert Jongewaard, William C Chilman IV, Sarah Mills, & Dan Scripps. Thanks as always to the awesome podcast team at The Brookings Institution, especially producer Fred Dews & audio engineer Gastón Reboredo #RuralDevelopment #CleanEnergy #Rural #RuralMatters #WindFarms #Michigan https://lnkd.in/dCYsdKTS

Your voice is needed to ensure that the unique needs of rural and Indigenous communities are addressed in the 2024 Farm Bill! Join our coalition of rural community leaders to call for the inclusion of a new, flexible capacity-building program that invests directly in local rural partnerships. The letter highlights the importance of a three-pronged approach: 🔹Rural Partnership Program Grants: Flexible investments directly to local rural partnerships. 🔹 Rural Prosperity Technical Assistance Grants: Support for experienced intermediaries and technical assistance providers. 🔹Whole-of-Government Approach: Facilitating cross-agency collaboration to ensure federal programs reach underserved rural communities. This program will help level the playing field for rural and Indigenous communities and help them access the investments intended for their development. Including this program in the 2024 Farm Bill, with adequate baseline spending, will ensure it has a national reach and serves the diverse needs of rural America. We'd like to invite you to endorse this initiative by signing a letter addressed to key Senate and House Committees on Agriculture members. Your support is vital in making a lasting impact on rural and Indigenous regions across the country. Signatures are due by noon on Friday, July 26. Please share with your rural-serving networks. https://lnkd.in/dTaEnSch

Too often, capacity building is seen through the lens of a community’s ability to work with funders. But what about funders’ capacity to work with communities? We explored this question in a recent case study, which profiles efforts to build public and private funders’ capacity to work with communities on their own terms—from flexibility to long-term trust building. See the case study here: https://lnkd.in/ehwWKE8c and our report on flexible funding here: https://lnkd.in/evJ6mWbP #CapacityBuilding #RuralDevelopment

Your voice is needed to ensure that the unique needs of rural and Indigenous communities are addressed in the 2024 Farm Bill. Join our coalition of rural community leaders to call for the inclusion of a new, flexible capacity-building program that invests directly in local rural partnerships. The letter highlights the importance of a three-pronged approach: 🔹Rural Partnership Program Grants: Flexible investments directly to local rural partnerships. 🔹 Rural Prosperity Technical Assistance Grants: Support for experienced intermediaries and technical assistance providers. 🔹Whole-of-Government Approach: Facilitating cross-agency collaboration to ensure federal programs reach underserved rural communities. This program will help level the playing field for rural and Indigenous communities and help them access the investments intended for their development. Including this program in the 2024 Farm Bill, with adequate baseline spending, will ensure it has a national reach and serves the diverse needs of rural America. We'd like to invite you to endorse this initiative by signing a letter addressed to key Senate and House Committees on Agriculture members. Your support is vital in making a lasting impact on rural and Indigenous regions across the country. Signatures are due by noon on Friday, July 26. Please share with your rural-serving networks. https://lnkd.in/dTaEnSch

Is your organization planning to apply for federal funding for economic diversification, workforce development, or broadband infrastructure? The Just Transition Fund offers grants of up to $100,000 to help cover the costs associated with developing applications (including hiring a grant writer or other experts) and qualifying for private matching funds. They also offer technical assistance, including helping identify funding programs your project is eligible for and reviewing federal proposals before submission. https://lnkd.in/enJWPT8p

As you start your summer travels, check out our roundup of ten podcasts highlighting essential issues about and to rural communities and Native nations and add some to the queue! https://lnkd.in/eNvZNWdq