Funding Rural

Cory Carman: Supporting Innovation in Ranching

More than 95 percent of American beef cattle spend the end of their lives eating grain in feed lots. It’s an easy way to get them fat faster. However, a growing number of

Gov. Tom Vilsak: A Career in Office Serving Rural Folks

Governor Tom Vilsack started out as a small-town lawyer, then mayor, and went on to serve as governor of Iowa for 8 years. He ran the US Department of Agriculture under P

JT Flowers: Coming Home to Build Community

Rhodes Scholar, lifelong Portlander, and community visionary JT Flowers draws the parallels between urban and rural communities. Born and raised in NE Portland’s historic

Mel Butterfield: Promoting Hope

Mel Butterfield asks, ‘if adults aren’t modeling healthy behaviors, why does it surprise us when youth behavior suffers?’ She is a fourth-generation Central Oregonian and

Rev. Dr. Ryan M. Eller: Action is the Oxygen of Organizing

Rev. Dr. Ryan M. Eller is a ninth-generation Appalachian who deeply understands his region—and where generations of their wealth went. As Executive Director of Appalachia

Here comes Season 4!

We're back with a new season of Funding Rural! This fall, we bring you more fresh, heartfelt conversations about philanthropy and how it can better serve rural and Indige

Charlie Brown: Don’t Run from the Mess

When people don’t know where to begin when it comes to funding rural America, collaborative funds are a great way to start. Charlie Brown is the executive director of the

Derek Burkhardt & Allison Rayburn: Rural Fire Protection Agencies

Funding for disaster response is much needed in the American West where vast rangeland ignites quickly under dry conditions. In Eastern Oregon, innovative Rangeland Fire

Kimberly Lindsay: I can lend a hand; I can volunteer; I can be available

Meeting the mental and behavioral health needs of rural communities, where people are dispersed and remarkably self-reliant, can be a challenge for a variety of different

Jordan Lewis, PhD: We Still Take Care of Each Other

There are so many folks who want to age in place but live far away from the care they need, and that can present challenges for their health, happiness and the social fab

Dee Anne Everson: The #1 Leadership Quality is Love

When massive wildfires swept through Oregon in 2020, Dee Anne Everson helped hundreds of people who had just lost everything, and five years later, she’s still helping th

Brad Kik: Where Art Meets Earth

Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology in Northern Michigan is an artist residency that aims to build community through farming, ecology and economy. The Northern Michigan

Sue Matters: Radio on the Reservation: Continuing the Oral History Tradition

Philanthropy has long been a champion of public radio, providing grants for everything from infrastructure and new buildings to special reporting projects. Recent federal

Dave Dallas: Grow Your Own

In rural and remote Oregon, where populations are low and the need for educators is high, there’s Rural Teacher Corps, a Grow Your Own program that is implementing new ap

Stone Hudson: Giving for the Generations You Will Never Meet

Native American Tribal communities are a blind spot for philanthropy with just .4% of funding going to Native organizations—but some philanthropic organizations are tryin

Luke Shaefer, PhD: Living in Complexities

Luke Shaefer, PhD is one of the nation's foremost scholars of poverty and social welfare policy. He is a professor at the University of Michigan and is the inaugural dire

Maria Sykes: It Should be a Privilege, Not a Burden, to Fund Rural

Green River, Utah (population 900) can be seen as a waypoint in the desert with more hotel rooms than residents. Or it can be seen through the eyes of locals like Maria S

Dr. Regina Washington-Arthur: Uplift and Amplify the Bright Spots

Libraries are vital to rural communities—they do so much more than just check out books. They provide internet access, heating and cooling centers, early learning, nutrit

Food is Medicine with Carly Auten

More than 50 million Americans face food insecurity. And in the U.S., 9 out of the 10 counties with the highest rate of food insecurity are rural. To offset this disparit

Gretchen Guess: It's Always Been About Service

Gretchen Guess is president and CEO of the Rasmuson Foundation in Alaska, where 80% of the population lives in remote areas without road access. Gretchen has lived there