national rural assembly report

B U I L D I N G A NINCLUSIVEN A T I O N

R E p o R t t o t h E C o U N t R y

“America emerged from the Twentieth Century as the most powerful nation on earth. But we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable source of energy.”

— Colonel Mark Mykleby and Captain Wayne Porter Of fice of U.S. Armed Services Joint Chiefs of StaffJoint Keynote Address2011 Gathering of the National Rural Assembly

The country desperately needs a more sustainable way to produce energy and to power the grid. America needs a ubiquitous communications network that makes access to markets more efficient and creates a new kind of critical mass for 21st century enterprise. We need smarter and less wasteful ways to feed people. At the same time, we need smarter and less wasteful people. We need strategies for how we build a more inclusive economy, a more inclusive nation, and how we get it right this time. We need a new strategic narrative that is no longer based on notions of who we dominate and who we leave behind. To build that more inclusive nation, we need all parts of American society, both cities and towns, engaged and contributing their assets to this effort. In rural America, those assets are considerable. Rural America is a fifth of the population, four-fifths of the land, and a wealth of strategic resources from food to fuel. It is also a place where the challenges are great: the highest rates of children living in poverty and the lowest rates of educa-tional attainment. But it is also a place where the possi-bilities are vast. At question now is rural America’s role. Will it be as a valued national partner in creating a way forward? Or will it be as a sacrifice zone? Will rural be part of the American response to the challenges we all face or will it stand apart? The National Rural Assembly is 500 organizational partners working across dozens of sectors to address

those questions. Our goal is to create a new story about what is possible in this country and to pursue those possibilities. Change is cultural. Before policy changes, the narrative changes. The National Rural Assembly is about working together to get the story right and making sure the conversation includes a broad and sustaining set of voices.

Upon Reflection...

Dee DavisPresident, Center for Rural StrategiesChairman, National Rural Assembly Steering Committee

This report is dedicated to the memory of Elouise Cobell, a tireless advocate for the Blackfeet Nation and for tribal and rural communities across the country.

“A healthy American economy depends on a healthy rural America.”U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a message to the 2011 Gathering

2011 Gathering at a Glance

www.ruralassembly.org

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The 2011 Gathering was a meeting of the National Rural Assembly, a movement of people and organizations devoted to building a strong, more vibrant rural America for children, fami-lies, and communities. The National Rural As-sembly includes more than 500 local, regional, and national organizations based in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

39 states

represented

(and one person

from Ontario!)

342 individuals registered

109 people filled out

an evaluation 4-5 (of 5)

rating for majority of activities

215 organizations represented

21% people of color

52 registrants describing themselves

as “early career”

the Rural Compact

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The Four Principles

The Rural Compact is a set of principles for building stronger rural communities and a stronger nation. Here’s what we believe:

• Rural America is more than the land. It is a way we are connected in culture, heritage, and national enterprise. While it may be vast, it is far from empty. Sixty million of us live in the American countryside, and far more grew up there. Rural Americans reflect the full diversity of the country in who we are, what we do, and what we want to achieve.

• When rural communities succeed, the nation does better, and cities and suburbs have more resources on which to build. Conversely, when rural communities falter, it drains the nation’s prosperity and limits what we can accomplish together.

• We now face the challenges of how we sustainably fuel, feed, and nurture both ourselves and a fragile world. A vital rural America has a contribution to make in this effort and the responsibility to take on that endeavor.

• We offer this compact as a set of principles on which to build the kind of rural America that is needed now and a rural America that is ready to face the challenges to come.

QUaLIty IN EdUCatIoNEvery child should have an equal chance to learn, excel, and help lead

America to a better, brighter future. Educa-tion policy should recognize the distinctive challenges and opportunities for rural schools and reflect the unique needs of those students, families, and educators.

hEaLth of oUR pEopLEAll Americans deserve access to good, affordable healthcare. If we want small

towns and rural communities to contribute to the wellbeing of the nation, we need rural healthcare systems that include preventive care, health education, and both community-based and high-tech delivery systems.

StEwaRdShIp of NatURaL RESoURCES

Eighty percent of our country is rural. We all have a responsibility to protect the en-vironment and develop and sustain our natu-ral resources in ways that strengthen rural communities for the long haul, and develop stronger natural-resource-based economies.

INVEStmENt IN oUR CommUNItIESAll Americans need access to a safe and

equitable system for saving, borrowing, and building capital. Rural communities need public and private investment, philanthropic resources, and the tools to develop their own assets.

www.ruralassembly.org

Rural America is a vast and diverse place.

Although it’s tempting to lump all of America’s non-urban space into one homogeneous countryside, the 60 million people who live in rural America are just as diverse in their histories, views, ethnicity, education and cultures as any large city.

This was abundantly clear as 342 representatives from rural communities gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 28-30, 2011, for the Gathering of the National Ru-ral Assembly. From the Mississippi Delta to the forests of the Pacific Northwest; from tribal lands in Arizona to the mountains of Vermont, these passionate community and national leaders joined forces to discuss the com-mon challenges and opportunities that are shaping rural America’s future, and their effects on building an inclu-sive nation for all Americans.

One could consider rural America to be a subset of the nation, but only in the way one might consider the heart a subset of the human body. What happens in rural America in the coming years will have repercussions for our entire country. In fact, the quality of our nation’s future will be defined by how well urban and rural com-munities value one another and work together.

Rural America also has assets working in its favor: natural resources, land, sources of untapped energy, understanding and appreciation for culture, people of all ages who want to be here, people who want to lead.

Therefore, the policy debates that dictate America’s priorities must include rural America’s voices and per-spectives. But they must also honor what’s unique about the ways in which problems and solutions play out in rural communities. Whereas urban needs and challeng-es frequently can be measured and addressed with an emphasis on mass, in rural communities one must also consider needs and challenges in terms of miles.

Where populations are less dense, problems can become more intractable because of old-fashioned no-tions about the cost of “small scale” solutions. Rural America is disproportionately affected by poverty, lack of transportation, lack of access to healthcare, job loss, lack of resources for economic development, and loss of traditional opportunities for youth.

where we are today

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“Help find a unity that we can all respect as Americans…and let’s move on as a country.”

Colonel Mark Mykleby, USMC and Captain Wayne Porter, USN, who both serve the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talked about their “Na-tional Strategic Narrative,” a bold and compelling change to the outdated notion of “national security” in America.

The two explained that the nation’s current secu-rity policy focuses only on trying to mitigate risk, and not on capturing opportunity. They called for a paradigm shift that acknowledges our interde-pendencies, moves beyond a strategy of control and containment, and replaces a focus on force and power with a focus on shared strength and influ-ence.

Education, security based on sustainability, and the development of renewable resources, they argued, should become national priorities.

Speaking truth to power

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The 2011 Gathering opened with diverse voices from across rural America, who set the stage for discussion by “Speaking Rural Truth to Power.”

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“Rural America is key to the energy future of the United States.”

Billy Altom, Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living, North Little Rock, Arkansas

“All public transportation should be accessible to all users, all the time.”

Carolyn Ford, North Florida Educational Development Corporation, Gretna, Florida

Olga Cardoso, Llano Grande Center for Research and

Development, Edcouch, Texas

“Rural students deserve greater

access to higher education.”

“We must connect the dots in rural America around a com-mon agenda with common voices using community organizing as the tool to challenge the power structure.”

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“All public transportation should be accessible to all users, all the time.” “The strong voices of Native American youth must be repre-sented when decision makers at every level are discussing, creating, and implementing youth-related initiatives and policies.”

Dana Lee Jetty, Center for Native Ameri-can Youth, Washington, DC

Nancy Straw, West Central Initiative, Fergus Falls, Minnesota

“Rural Americans are excellent leaders because we have so many more opportunities to lead.”

“Native nation

building is tribal policy

in action.”

Traci Morris, Native

Public Media, Inc.,

Flagstaff, Arizona

Al White, Action Communication and Education Reform, Duck Hill, Mississippi

“The self-empowerment of our local communities and families depends on innovative entrepreneurship investments and partnerships.”

Olga Cardoso, Llano Grande Center for Research and

Development, Edcouch, Texas

Rural americans by the NumbersParticipants took a hard look at current demo-graphic trends in rural America, with help from Kenneth M. Johnson, Senior Demographer at the Carsey Institute and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire.

Rural and “nonmetro adjacent” areas of the nation are home to 16.5% of our population, but include nearly 75% of the land, according to Johnson. While rural America continues to grow, it does so at a pace much slower than in urban America. In remote rural areas, this growth is largely due to births, which increased by just over 2% from 2000-2010. In areas closer to metropoli-tan areas, the growth comes from both births and an influx of people (from within and outside the U.S.) moving into those areas. During 2000-2010, births in-creased by just over 2%, and net migration increased by close to 3%.

Overall, since the 1960s, more people have moved to rural areas than have left. But this larger pattern of

migration gain disguises large regional variations and an overall net loss of young people from rural areas.

But demographic trends differ in different kinds of rural communities. “Rural America is a simple term describ-ing a complex place and that complexity is reflected in rural demographic trends,” said Johnson.

For example, during the 1990s, population growth was much higher in retirement and recreational rural com-munities than in manufacturing, farming or mining com-munities. From 2000-2010, population growth dropped in retirement, recreational, manufacturing and farming communities, but grew at nearly twice the 1990s rate in mining communities.

Rural American communities are growing more racially diverse. Hispanic populations saw the greatest rate of in-crease in rural areas from 2000-2010, at 45.2%. Asians were second at 33.4%, but represent a much smaller percentage of the population overall. Black populations

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All data and illustrations, Kenneth M. Johnson, Carsey Institute. All rights reserved.

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grew at 3.4%, and whites at 1.6%. Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native and other groups claim higher percentages of the total child population than do comparable groups of adults. In fact, numbers of white children declined 10.3% in rural areas from 2000-2008, and numbers of black children declined 8.3%, while numbers of Hispan-ic children increased 26%. In general, rural communities in the South and Southwest are more racially diverse than in other regions.

In many cases, diversity in rural communities also coincides with higher rates of persistent child poverty. According to a recent report from The Carsey Institute, 32.2 percent of our nation’s rural children under six — over one million in total — live below the poverty line. That number has increased 4.5 percent since 2007. Rural child poverty is highest in the South, where 35.5 percent of children six and under live below the poverty level.

“Building an inclusive nation is a mandate, not a choice. Rural youth need to be at the table in a robust way.”

A panel discussion about young leaders and the future of rural America made two things perfectly clear: 1) rural communities must find ways to con-nect and work together, and 2) including youth in discussions and planning is critical.

“We must learn from communities across the coun-try and collaborate on policy changes at the state and federal level,” said Delia Perez, Llano Grande Center for Research and Development. She urged participants to join the work of the National Rural Youth Assembly, which is focused on helping rural youth connect with one another and become com-munity leaders.

Kim Phinney, YouthBuild USA, called for “an asset-based ap-proach to developing young people. Young people want to re-turn to communities and become leaders. They are rural America’s ultimate wealth creation.”

Peter Morris, National Congress of American Indi-ans, summed it up this way: “Building an inclusive nation is a mandate, not a choice. Rural youth need to be at the table in a robust way.”

Rural America has myriad resources and strengths upon which it can build its future. During the conference, participants brought many of these to the forefront time and time again. The greatest challenge, they agreed, is to recognize and capitalize on them now.

we are Stronger togetherRural and urban America are dependent upon one another. As St. Paul Mayor Christopher B. Coleman pointed out, there is a longstanding, symbiotic relation-ship between America’s urban and rural areas. Tradi-tionally, this relationship was built on the transfer of food from rural farms to urban centers, and the flow of manufactured goods to rural communities. Today, in ad-dition to food, rural America provides natural resources, climate change protection, and energy supplies that power American cities. Urban America’s ability to grow and thrive is directly tied to rural America’s ability to do so as well.

There are many different kinds of communities — rep-resenting myriad cultures —in rural America that will play a part in our country’s success. Lands that are ancestral homes to tribal nations and lands that house new communities of immigrants will all shape our fu-ture, working with urban centers to create a strong and diverse economy and society.

By the same token, these diverse rural communities must also work together to create a stronger rural voice and presence as our nation determines the policies that will shape our future. Panelists throughout the Gather-ing were adamant about this point, stressing the need for connecting, collaborating, sharing best practices and working together across every kind of divide.

One participant suggested that rural communities “go old school in terms of cultural connections and assets in individual communities, then build that connectivity up through regional and national discussions.”

“We need to create our own future narrative, not let it be designed for us,” said moderator Brian Dabson of the Rural Policy Research Institute’s Rural Futures Lab. “We need to build a new future on a model that’s very

the opportunities we See

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“Because I love this place, I’m going to do something to make this place whole.”

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie provided a historical review of major turning points in the history of the United States and how we reacted as a people. These were all times when, said Ritchie, “ we as a people knew we couldn’t go on the way we were.” Now, he said, is another one of those times.

The new people and energy coming into the coun-try will be instrumental in moving forward, but we must find ways to be truly inclusive, and find ways to speak from values that we all share. Being patriotic is about loving a place and taking care of that place, he explained.

different. One based on equity, diversity, collaboration and sustainability.”

Investing in youth, Especially youth of ColorOne participant put it succinctly: youth of color mat-ter. With the demographic evidence of an increasingly diverse population and better youth retention, it’s clear that rural communities will be sustained in large part by youth of all different colors and backgrounds. As par-ticipants and presenters made clear during the confer-ence, this demographic trend is accompanied by another encouraging observation: youth of color in rural com-munities want to be there, want to create opportunities for themselves and others, and want a seat at the table when the futures of their communities are discussed and deliberated.

Participants discussed the growing desire among rural youth to define success as going to college and returning to their rural hometowns to grow businesses and oppor-tunities. As one breakout group recorded, “There needs to be a norm change away from the notion that if you are going to be successful you need to move away. Be-ing successful also means staying at home and making the community better.”

Overall, youth of color face challenges in getting a col-lege degree and/or obtaining loans for business develop-ment. These are barriers to encouraging young people to stay in or return to their home communities to live. Keeping the DREAM Act intact (which would make it possible for many young immigrants to attend college)

and making loan funds more available were listed as potential solutions.

Participants also discussed the importance of including youth in the discussions about their own futures. “There is a big difference between what you do to and for youth versus what you do with youth,” said participants in one youth-focused session. “Community visioning must be with young people.”

“Youth leaving to go to school or work is not a bad thing,” said those in another session. “They are gain-ing experience, and as long as they have had positive involvement in their community and with other young people who have stayed in the community, they will likely want to return.”

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The Opportunities We See

In 2010, the National Rural Assembly created the Na-tional Rural Youth Assembly to directly engage young people in planning and creating policy recommendations around education, career pathways/workforce develop-ment, criminal justice and immigration. Today, a grow-ing number of youth (ages 14-30) are part of the Youth Assembly. Members of the Youth Assembly hosted a session over breakfast to give meeting participants a chance to engage young people in conversation and to learn more about the emerging platform of the National Rural Youth Assembly.

Culture Is CriticalA key to securing the success of a rural community is understanding and preserving the culture and traditions of that community. This idea was shared by both young and older panelists in various sessions and plenaries, and infused discussions on a range of topics, from mak-ing cultural activities available to rural youth to pro-viding access to social and cultural resources for rural communities via broadband connections.

“We see the demographic changes [presented above] in our schools, but we’re only applying technical fixes, not a cultural response,” observed Delia Perez of the Llano Grande Center for Research and Development in Edcouch, Texas. “We need to find ways to put culture and place front and center in innovation and economic development.”

“Culture and value are at the heart of opportunity,” said Peter Morris, National Congress of American Indians.

Rural communities are defined as much by their stories and culture as they are by their economics and indus-

try. Indeed, it is the culture that ties members of rural communities together, that makes young people want to return, and that creates a shared identity worth preserv-ing and growing. As National Rural Assembly Chairman Dee Davis said of rural communities during his closing address, “Once you listen to our stories, you can’t help but engage, can’t help but be changed.”

“Meeting other people who have deep emotional con-nections to the places they come from has made me prouder to be living in America than I have ever felt,” Janney Lockman, a 21-year-old participant from Green-bank, West Virginia, wrote on the 2011 Gathering blog.

The key, noted Davis, is to incorporate stories into the plans and strategies of rural communities, especially as rural America begins to slowly increase its presence in conversations about policy and in the national media.

Increased Connectivity = Increased opportunityThe ability for rural residents to make connections — both physical and electronic — are huge issues. Hence, transportation and broadband access have been domi-nant themes for the National Rural Assembly for the past two years. The Assembly’s Transportation and Broadband Policy Groups presented and distributed their written policy papers at the Gathering, and issues of access were constant through the event.

TransportationRural communities, by definition, include the character-istic of distance: distance from urban centers, distance between homes and places of work, distance between those needing health, education or other services and the places where those services are provided. As a result,

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rural communities are heavily dependent upon auto-mobiles for transportation, and public transit is often nonexistent.

For those too poor to own a vehicle, those without a driver’s license, the elderly, or those who live with dis-abilities, the lack of transportation is a huge barrier to commuting to jobs, receiving healthcare, or attending trainings or community meetings.

As Billy Altom, Executive Director of APRIL (Associa-tion of Programs for Rural Independent Living) stated in his Truth to Power speech, “Compared to the resources allocated to urban areas, those allocated for rural public transportation are significantly inequitable. Statistically 16.5% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, but only six percent of federal transit funding is allocated to serve them. So many rural communities, 1200 counties with a total population of 37 million people, have no public transit.”

The National Rural Assembly Transportation Policy Group released a number of recommendations for a new federal transportation bill that, if adopted, would strengthen and support economic opportunity and growth not just for rural communities, but for the entire nation. The group’s recommendations included mea-sures to help integrate rural and tribal communities into transportation planning processes from the local to fed-eral levels; increase availability of and access to trans-portation options for rural residents; align transportation investments with “livable communities” principles; address the needs for movement of goods and services to rural places; and increase safety on rural highways.

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“Philanthropy has to be held to the fire.”

Chuck Fluharty of Rural Policy Research Institute named four things that rural communities need to do to have a voice in the national conversation: create more and stronger connections, learn how to col-laborate with one another, make a commitment to consensus-building in communities as well as a com-mitment to a long-term effort to create a new world order. But philanthropy, too, has a role to play.

“Philanthropy needs to scale up and build new com-mitments to place,” he said. “They [foundations] need to give more than the required five percent, and need to tie to public investment.”

“The private sector is not enough. Government needs to be part of the mix.”

A panel discussion on innovation, facilitated by Anita Brown-Graham, Director of the Institute for Emerging Issues, brought a number of ideas into play. “Innovation is a good thing when there are social investors who are willing to assume risk,” said Ron Phillips, Coastal Enterprises. “The bad news is that the private sector is not enough. Government needs to be part of the mix.”

Robert Mahaffey, Rural Schools Community Trust said, “We need to get past looking for innovation with a ‘name’ and just look at and support what’s already innovative in our communities.”

The panel also featured Tanya Fiddler, Four Bands Community Fund.


BroadbandImproving broadband connectivity remains both a chal-lenge and an opportunity for rural America.

It’s still harder to get broadband access in rural com-munities – there are fewer providers, costs tend to be higher, transmission speeds slower, and sometimes there is simply no access. Despite these obstacles, the promise of economic expansion, educational opportunity, access

to telemedicine, and other improvements are beginning to be fulfilled in areas that get broadband access and use it strategically.

The Rural Broadband Policy Group produced a number of events as part of the 2011 Gathering to demonstrate the increasing importance of high-speed Internet for ru-ral communities. These events informed rural advocates about policy opportunities, model broadband programs, and how they can work together to improve access, af-fordability, and adoption in their own communities.A highlight of the 2011 Gathering was the plenary speech of Commissioner Mignon Clyburn of the Fed-eral Communications Commission, who spoke about the need to reach all American communities with high-speed Internet (see sidebar, opposite).

The Rural Broadband Policy Group also produced a pre-conference listening session, a “broadband breakfast” networking opportunity, and two working sessions on broadband policy and skill building.

The policy working session focused on three topics:

• Proposed reform of the Universal Service Fund to provide support for rural broadband access. The fund currently helps defray the cost of telephone service to hard-to-serve areas.

• Wireless broadband access, including the use of smart phones in rural areas and new developments in the un-licensed use of broadcast spectrum to provide Internet access.

• And how state laws and regulations can affect the abil-

ity of local communities to create broadband access alternatives such as municipal networks.

A skill-building panel presented various models to cre-ate a local broadband network that rural leaders can implement in their communities.

Broadband workgroups, as at previous gatherings of the Rural Assembly, attracted a wide range of participants from various sectors such as education, economic devel-opment, healthcare, arts and culture, and other areas.Some of the themes covered in presentations and discus-sions of broadband issues included workforce training, telemedicine, civic engagement and government ser-vices, and cultural expression.

A number of challenges were identified, including lack of private competition in rural markets, high costs of subscriptions, state laws that limit or ban some noncom-mercial solutions, and lack of infrastructure.

The Rural Broadband Policy Group identified a range of policy issues that it will work on in the coming year.

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Capturing the Synergy Between Economic development and EnergyRural communities have the potential to deliver a “dou-ble whammy” in terms of environment and economic development that can have benefits for the entire nation.

As participants learned from Dylan Kruse, Program As-sociate at Sustainable Northwest, in his Truth to Power speech, rural America is home to vast amounts of energy

sources, including wind, geothermal, biomass, and solar thermal and photovoltaic. Communities in rural areas can take the lead in developing these sources of energy, creating jobs for community residents and amassing community wealth along the way. A policy paper com-missioned by the National Rural Assembly and produced by Sustainable Northwest said that, “When the fuel is produced locally, the combined effect of using local fu-els and reduced spending could have a dramatic wealth capture impact for local and regional economies.” Ex-cess energy production can be sold to neighboring urban areas.

The challenge is in the delivery. Today’s high voltage transmission lines do not connect to the regions where wind power, solar power, and geothermal power are most abundant. What’s more, the traditional economic model of a sole, “fat cat” provider of energy works against the push toward more localized energy produc-tion. Instead of a traditional model where one power plant supplies all the energy to surrounding communi-ties, Kruse illustrated a model in which power sources become more widely distributed and integrated, making the entire energy flow more resilient, reliable and afford-able.


“The communities we care about…are no less significant than the other most densely populated areas in this country.”

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called on participants to help the FCC understand how new approaches and programs, as well as individual companies are performing at the local level. “As we undergo [broadband] reform initiatives, we must hold companies accountable to serve those areas that receive these funds,” she said.

“The communities in which we serve, those 24 mil-lion people without any broadband access, those rural communities that don’t have the same population density as urban areas … the communities we care about that may not have the numbers, the density in terms of Congressional representation… the communities we care about … are no less significant than the other most densely populated areas in this country.”

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And, because these sources of energy release much less carbon than traditional coal or oil-based sources, rural communities could contribute greatly to national efforts to address climate change. As a climate change discus-sion group noted, “Lack of policy creates opportunities for rural communities to lead in policy development and practice.”

Participants in a discussion led by Carol Werner, Execu-tive Director, Environmental and Energy Study Institute also examined the opportunities for “green jobs” devel-opment in other areas like farming, forestry and manu-facturing that would benefit rural communities. They agreed that a unique opportunity exists to engage the White House Rural Policy Council in a discussion about broadening the definition of green jobs to include these rural industries.

opening the door to “Giving of ourselves”Despite the fact that so many rural communities are sites of high poverty rates, there is great wealth in rural America — often in the form of land, timber, water and energy sources. How to help transform this wealth into philanthropy that serves rural communities was the subject of two different breakout discussions. In par-ticular, participants articulated the difference between rural development philanthropy (giving by everyone and benefitting everyone) as a tool, versus the traditional model of community philanthropy (large gifts given by wealthy donors).

Rural development philanthropy is a community-led approach that creates locally controlled assets and invests them to strengthen rural places. It builds a com-munity’s ability to shape a better future and promote the wellbeing of all community members. It unites the tools of community, economic and resource develop-ment, engaging all people to come together with their

“We’re our own biggest support group. We’re very, very close.”

Dominic Fredianelli and his childhood friends were the subject of Heather Courtney’s dark and honest documentary, Where Soldiers Come From. Alternat-ing between movie clips and an intimate discussion with Courtney and Fredianelli, audience members learned some of the reasons why rural America pro-duces a disproportionate amount of military person-nel, and about the very real and difficult trials sol-diers from rural areas face when they return home.

In the case of Fredianelli and many of his friends, there were no jobs other than low-wage work in his home town. For others, the military is a family tradi-tion. Others simply wanted adventure.

After returning home with various injuries inside and out, the young men were two hours away from the nearest VA medical care, no longer received support for their families even if they were unable to work, had difficulty getting benefits for education and had to hunt carefully for resources to help them navigate the support systems offered by the VA and GI Bill.

To solve these problems, Fredianelli suggested more information for po-tential recruits and a broader support network for veterans.


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ideas, strategies, talents, and giving. It can be especially effective in rural communities because it shifts the focus from the traditional practice of reactive fundraising following a personal or community disaster to one of consistently building a pool of funds for the commu-nity’s overall needs and projects that benefits all resi-dents. Rural development philanthropy is anchored by the practice of all residents working together, rather than those with wealth determining which causes or needs will be the beneficiaries of their benevolence. In many tribal communities, the practices of rural development philanthropy have been in use for years and only need to be strengthened.

Several of the National Rural Assembly’s member organizations are part of the Rural Development Philan-thropy Collaborative, which provides tools and guidance for rural communities wishing to increase their philan-thropic power and efficiency.

Community foundations can play a key role in foster-ing rural development philanthropy in the communities they serve, but only if they can find and take advantage of opportunities to move away from traditional “single-donor” models of service to add a more collaborative approach. On the national level, the Rural Philanthropy Growth Act offers potential legislation to help lift re-strictions on community-based endowments and provide more flexibility for community foundations that serve rural areas. This legislation has yet to be introduced in Congress. Several states have also enacted legislation that provides added incentives for the creation of or con-tributions to community funds. Others have eliminated them. At both the federal and state levels, representa-tives from rural communities should have conversations with elected representatives about the importance of legislation that encourages the growth of rural commu-nity development funds.

Including tribal CommunitiesWith few exceptions, Tribal America is rural Amer-ica. While many natives move to urban areas, they remain connected to their homeland communities and move often between rural and urban experienc-es. Tribal communities historically have been mar-ginalized, but they offer generations of community wisdom and values that are increasingly valuable to the discussion of our country’s future.

The United States is home to 565 federally recog-nized tribal governments — communities that are primed to foster innovations in community develop-ment and policy that can benefit all of rural America (and the rest of America as well). But to truly capture the potential for innovation, native and non-native rural communities must work together as partners.

For a complete overview of the issues facing tribal communities and their potential role in shaping America’s future, please download Innovative Na-tive Nations in Rural America: Key Partners in Building Sus-tainable American Prosperity, a paper prepared for the National Rural Assembly by the National Congress of American Indians.


ways to Capture opportunityA key outcome of the 2011 Gathering was the development of policy recommendations by participants that could provide greater oppor-tunities for Americans living in rural areas and strengthen the country overall. Many of the recommendations, if adopted, could provide direct or indirect benefits to urban communities as well. These pages highlight participant recommendations in a number of areas.

to Increase Rural philanthropy • Promote and foster the use of rural development

philanthropy (giving by everyone and benefitting ev-eryone) as a tool versus traditional community philan-thropy (large gifts given only by wealthy donors).

• Change the discussion from a negative focus on the “philanthropic divide” to a positive discussion about the opportunities for rural philanthropic collabora-tions.

• Actively promote and use the rural development phi-lanthropy framework to support organizational strate-gic planning process in rural communities

• Support the Rural Philanthropy Growth Act, which provides greater incentives and flexibility for rural donors and rural community foundations to create community-based endowment funds. Work with the Council on Foundations to get this bill introduced and supported in Congress.

• Introduce and support state legislation that increases incentives for creating and contributing to rural com-munity endowment funds..

to Engage Rural youth• Work to change the notion that if you are going to be

successful you need to move away. Being successful also means staying home and making the community better.

• Welcome the arts and other cultural experiences into rural communities so young people have those oppor-tunities.

• Raise the quality of and standards for career, technical education and adult education in rural programs, and create stronger links between school and employers.

• Extend support for foster youth and youth with dis-abilities beyond age 22 for those who need it.

• Incorporate restorative justice, as well as focus on health, as tools to combat suspensions and expulsions in schools.

to Build Rural Broadband Connectivity• Advocate to change state-by-state restrictions on

broadband infrastructure development.• Make unlicensed spectrum available for local broad-

band networks and self-provisioning. • Allow non-incumbent community and local broad-

band networks, anchor institutions, and tribal govern-ments to receive Universal Service Funds.

• Make USF funding available to build and maintain networks, and for digital literacy initiatives.

• Require that USF funding recipients fulfill public in-terest obligations like network neutrality, open access, and to interconnect their networks.

• Strengthen network neutrality and open access rules, and implement them for both wired and wireless broadband.

For more information about rural broadband and policy goals, down-load the National Rural Assembly’s Broadband Policy Group paper, Broadband & Rural America: Ar-chitects of the Digital Future.

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to Improve Rural transportationThe National Rural Assembly’s Transportation Policy Group de-livered a number of comprehen-sive policy recommendations in its paper, Principles for a Sound Rural Transportation Policy. The recommendations are summa-rized as follows: • Integrate rural communities and Native American

tribes into regional, statewide, and national transporta-tion planning processes through Rural Transportation Planning Organizations (RTPOs) and statewide trans-portation planning entities.

• Increase availability as well as access to transporta-tion options for all rural residents, reducing barriers to employment, healthcare, and other services.

• Align transportation investments with “livable com-munities” principles, supporting the economic, envi-ronmental, and social wellbeing of rural communities and landscapes.

• Address the needs for movement of goods and ser-vices to strengthen and support rural places, people, and economies.

• Decrease high traffic crash, mortality, and injury rates on rural highways.

to Improve Equity in Education • Revise No Child Left Behind to reduce the focus on

testing and test preparation and instead give schools the support they need to improve.

• Incorporate place-based curricula.• Change the weighted formulas used in Title I, which

place rural schools at a disadvantage.• Eliminate federal guidelines that lead to school con-

solidation.• Create an office on rural education within the Depart-

ment of Education to ensure that rural school needs are considered in policy and funding criteria.

• Support programs that offer support and resources to rural schools.

• Reauthorize the Rural Teacher Retention Act of 2007.• Increase funding for professional development so

teachers can modify instruction for increasingly di-verse student populations.

• Use the Rural School and Community Trust’s “Rural Schools Innovation Network” as a model for rural school-to-school networks.

• Expand financial aid programs for broader access to higher education.

• Continue reauthorizing the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which allows a percentage of revenues from national timber sales to be invested in schools located in counties that host a national forest.

• Reauthorize the Full-Service Community Schools Act, which aims to improve the academic achieve-ment of students by providing funding for schools to coordinate social and health services to be offered to students and their families within school facilities.

to Grow Rural Economies and Create Community wealth• Supporting policies that attract jobs is important,

including lower paying jobs, but we should also pro-mote policies that help people develop new skills that enable them to take advantage of good jobs when they emerge.

• Work with large employers who understand and facili-tate the process of advancing the skills and capacities of employees.

• Build entrepreneurship and small business develop-ment skills into the educational curriculum in rural schools. This is an important long-term investment in rural youth.

• In order to better understand and respond to the reali-ties of rural communities in the broader economy

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Ways to Capture Opportunity

create regional development policies (via rural/urban regional innovation clusters or super regions) that emphasize how rural development fits into the eco-nomic development landscape.

• Focus on a value chain business model, which is based on shared economic, social, and environmental values and in which buyers, processors, producers and others work together for mutual benefit to create value in response to market demand (as opposed to a tradi-tional supply chain model).

• Work to gain acceptance of public and private invest-ment in a value chain approach for economic develop-ment.

• Get local officials engaged in discussing policy oppor-tunities, in enforcing existing policies and in increas-ing regional collaboration across agencies.

• Recognize that the long-term wellbeing of communi-ties is more dependent on the accumulation or deple-tion of “stocks” of various forms of wealth than on the “flow” of income.

• Advocate for consistency in definitions of “rural” and efficiencies in application across governmental agen-cies.

• Provide technical assistance for federal grants and loans

• Formalize ecosystem services policies.• Shift food safety policies to benefit small producers.• Enforce HUD minority contractor policies and hous-

ing standard policies.In addition to these recommendations, several breakout groups called for a robust rural development component in the 2012 Farm Bill.

to Create affordable housing• Support a robust, high-volume USDA section 502

home ownership mortgage program and create a similar program for urban and suburban areas.

• Create a transfer of ownership policy in USDA sec-tion 515 for developments by nonprofits and housing authorities to facilitate rehabilitation. Preserve the existing 515 portfolio.

• Bring back the tax credit exchange program. Allow for states to grant out tax credit money that allows for small (20 unit) projects to be viable. Support the development of new rental housing opportunities.

• Preserve 30-year mortgages and preserve financing for single family housing. Provide housing opportuni-ties for all rural populations, including old people who need different housing and young people who can’t afford housing.

to Create Green Jobs in Rural Communities*• Work with community colleges, tribal colleges lo-

cal businesses, homeowners and state government to create a licensure/certification process for those who are receiving green jobs training. This will provide a greater level of credibility. Consult with national cer-tification organizations to make sure the certification process is developed correctly.

• Broaden the perception and definition of green jobs to ensure incentives and investment for agriculture, for-estry and manufacturing sectors in the green economy.

• Focus on renewable energy development and full energy cost accounting of climate change impacts. The current renewable energy portfolio standard is not geographically equitable and that disparity may make a national standard difficult.

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to Combat Climate Change* A current lack of policy creates opportunities for rural communities to lead in policy development and prac-tice with regard to climate change. As a result of its discussion, the climate change breakout group drafted a proposal to create a new National Rural Climate Change Coalition, led by the National Rural Assembly, Sustain-able Northwest and the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy. The Coalition seeks to build a national conversation around climate change policy that high-lights the key role rural constituencies should play in advancing climate change policy and working towards a carbon-reduced economy.

*A full suite of policy recommendations for environmen-tal health, climate change, renewable energy develop-ment, decision-making processes and sustainable envi-ronmental economic opportunities are available in the National Rural Assembly’s environmental justice policy paper, Rural Environmental Justice: Healthy Environments, Shared Decision-Making, and Sus-tainable Communities. Download them at www.ruralassembly.org.

to Improve Rural healthcare• Support and expand programs such as the National

Health Services Corps, NRSA Health Profession pro-grams, and state-based loan repayment programs.

• Expand and permanently reauthorize the J-1 visa pro-gram to encourage international medical graduates in rural areas.

• Support the reauthorization of Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Services Act in order to develop education programs to train qualified health profes-sionals for rural clinics, practices, and hospitals.

• Encourage collaboration among practitioners to meet regional pharmacy needs. Use video conferencing and other technologies and targeted training programs to recruit and retain pharmacists in rural areas.

• Allow new workforce initiatives to be applied in cre-ative and flexible ways to address patient care in areas of professional shortages.

• Ensure that the ongoing debate over health reform recognizes the rural-specific challenges in healthcare delivery.

• Enhance programs that support flexibility in financing and reimbursement schedules for Medicare and Med-

icaid, for instance, Critical Access Hospitals. • Continue efforts to make sure all Americans are con-

nected to an electronic health record.• Develop policies that allow the use of innovative

models for coordinating healthcare delivery in rural areas.

• Create community-wide partnerships, integrated with healthcare services, with the goal of improving health in communities as well as individuals.

• Design policy strategies that meet the Institute of Medicine’s goal of quality improvement, aiming for healthcare that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable.

to preserve Social SecurityRural Americans have a lot at stake from possible changes in the Social Security system. That’s because Social Security payments make up a greater share of rural economies than urban ones. In rural counties, 8.2 percent of residents receive some form of Social Security payment. In urban counties, 5 percent of residents receive such payments. The differ-ence is primarily because rural residents tend to be older than the national average, and therefore are more likely to receive retirement benefits from Social Security. The federal income insurance program also provides pay-ments to survivors of insured workers and to those with disabilities.

Per capita payments from Social Security are higher in rural areas, as well. Nationally, the average per capita payment was about $2,200 in 2009. For rural residents, the per capita payment was about $2,600.

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The work session on Social Security discussed the importance of informing rural communities about the impact of this federal program on local economies. Three organizations (the Center for Rural Strategies, the League of Rural Voters, and the Southern Rural Devel-opment Center at Mississippi State University) provided details about a national project to share county-by- county Social Security data with local media. The project is coordinated through the Daily Yonder (www.dailyyonder.com), the online rural news journal.

Changes to Social Security are being discussed in Con-gress, which is looking for ways to balance the larger federal budget. If benefits are cut — or if the eligibil-ity age is increased — rural counties and small towns would be disproportionately affected, participants said.

Immigration ReformMembers of the immigration reform break-out discus-sion called for measures to engage immigrants and immigrant supporters in civic duties in order to pro-mote inclusion greater inclusion into communities. As examples, the group listed local PTAs, chambers of commerce and other volunteer leadership positions in communities. Presenters also stressed the importance of grassroots organizing for immigration reform. As an example, they focused on recent successes in “colonias,” unincorporated, isolated, impoverished rural slums along the Mexican border.

Colonias are characterized as the “Third World” in the United States due to the lack of basic infrastructure services such as adequate water, drainage, paved streets, and electricity. In Texas alone, there are more than 2,000 colonias providing homes to more than 200,000 people, mostly Mexican-American. Many of these lie in Hildalgo and Cameron counties within the Rio Grande Valley, one of the poorest areas in the country.

Presenters at the 2011 Gathering shared stories of how local nonprofits in the area partnered to establish the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network Coalition to im-prove the quality of life in the colonias; what the coali-tion is doing to combat the issues through advocacy, education and legislative action; why it is important to invest in rural communities; and how proposed anti-im-migrant policies would devastate border rural communi-ties instead of improving living conditions. The work of these groups resulted in a major victory recently, as 60 anti-immigrant proposals in Texas recently were defeated.

The recommendations that appear in this section were developed by participants in breakout sessions during the National Rural Assembly’s 2011 Gathering and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire National Rural Assembly.


a Story worth telling

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Rural America has a story worth telling.

In his closing address, National Rural Assem-bly Chairman Dee Davis told a lot of stories about his own experiences in rural America. Some were about how his own life had been shaped by rural experiences, and some were about moving with na-tional policymakers throughout the rural landscape, and how their perceptions about rural communities and the people in them were forever changed for the better.

Rural America is a story in process. The story has a beginning that is rooted in the soil of farms and agriculture — but only about two percent of rural people make their living from farming today.

The story has a middle that takes many twists and turns and incorporates many myths and mis-conceptions about rural life. But there is a change afoot as rural issues are slowly creeping more and more into policy conversations and media cover-age. “Maybe others are beginning to understand that rural has a role to play in our nation,” said Davis.

He posed the question: “What if there were a national rural movement? There are three things they say you need for a movement to take hold: agency, critical mass, and purpose. We have all three.”

The National Rural Assembly, Davis said, has the standing and credibility to be an agent for such a movement. With 60 million people living in rural areas, and tens of millions more living in cities but feeling their rural roots, there is definitely enough critical mass to mobilize for a rural movement.

And in terms of purpose — a reason to keep going — rural America has each other. “This is bigger than programs, policies or funding,” said Davis. “We must have a way to keep finding each other and renewing ourselves. As the poet Der-rick Walcott wrote, ‘Either I am a nobody, or I’m a nation.’

“We have a beginning, a sort of a middle, and now we need to work on how our story’s going to end,” he concluded. “We can help each other create purpose in ourselves to move rural America for-ward.”

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Center for Rural Strategies TeamDee Davis President

Whitney Kimball Coe Coordinator, National Rural Assembly

Marty Newell Chief Operating Officer

Katharine Pearson CrissVice President

Tim Marema Vice President

Teresa Collins Operations Coordinator

Shawn Poynter Communications Associate

Edyael CasaperaltaProgram and Research Associate

Bobby Hall Intern

2011 Gathering production team

Managing Partner, National Rural Assembly

Peter HilleDirector, Brushy Fork Institute Donna Morgan Associate Director, Brushy Fork Institute Bill BishopCo-Editor, The Daily Yonder Joel Cohen President, Semaphore Media Ada Smith Program Coordinator, Appalachian Media Institute

Mimi PickeringDirector, Community Media Initiative, Appalshop

Feral ArtsBrisbane, Australia

Paul Queck Freelance Writer

Adam Brueggemann Program Manager, Institute for Emerging Issues John CooperProgram Director and Research Associate, MDC, Inc. Betsey Russell President , Last Word, LLC With special thanks to the local Host Committee and Pablo Jones, Pablo Jones Event Planning Services.

Rural Strategies thanks the members of the Rural Policy Action Partnership: Institute for Emerging Issues, MDC, Inc., and Innovation Network for Communities.

The Center for Rural Strategies coordinates the National Rural Assembly. From L to R: Shawn Poynter, Dee Davis, Teresa Col-lins, Marty Newell, Katharine Pearson Criss, Edyael Casaperalta, Tim Marema, Whitney Kimball Coe

www.ruralstrategies.orgwww.ruralassembly.org

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George BoodyExecutive DirectorLand Stewardship Project Minneapolis, MN

Jim KleinschmitDirector Rural CommunitiesIn stitute for Agriculture and Trade

Policy (IATP) Minneapolis, MN

Jane LeonardSenior ManagerBush FoundationSt. Paul, MN

Marcie McLaughlinChief Executive OfficerMidwest Assistance Program New Prague, MN

Dave FredericksonM innesota Commissioner of

AgricultureSt. Paul, MN

Colleen Landkamer State Director Rural Development U.S. Department of AgricultureSt. Paul, MN

David O’FallonPresidentMinnesota Humanities CenterSt. Paul, MN

Megan O’HaraOwnerMegan O’Hara CommunicationsMinneapolis, MN

Niel RitchieExecutive DirectorLeague of Rural VotersMinneapolis, MN

2011 Gathering host Committee

2011 Gathering Sponsors/Supporters

Bush FoundationInstitute for Agriculture and Trade PolicyMedia Democracy Fund, a project of the

Proteus FundMinnesota Department of Agriculture

Minnesota Rural PartnersNathan Cummings Foundation

National Academy of Social InsuranceSurdna Foundation

Transportation for America, Reconnecting America

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National Rural assembly Steering Committee membersCarsey Institute73 Main StreetHuddleston Hall GO5, UNHDurham, NH 3824603.862.4650

Center for Rural Strategies46 East Main StreetWhitesburg, KY 41858606.632.3244

League of Rural VotersP.O. Box 80259Minneapolis, MN 55408612.879.7578

Llano Grande CenterP.O. Box 340Edcouch, TX 78538956.262.4474

National Congress of American Indians1301 Connecticut Ave NWSuite 200Washington, DC 20036202.466.7767

National Rural Health Association1108 K Street NW2nd floorWashington, DC 20005202.639.0550

Native CDFI Networkc/o Four Bands Community FundBox 932Eagle Butte, SD 57625605.964.3687

Quitman County Development Organization201 Humphrey StreetP.O. Box 386Marks, MS 38646601.940.6245

Redwood Coast Rural Action373 Indianola RoadBayside , CA 95524707.442.2993, ext. 304

Rural Policy and Research Institute214 Middlebush HallUniversity of Missouri ColumbiaColumbia, MO 65211573.882.5060

Stand Up for Rural America4701 Willard AvenueChevy Chase, MD 20815301.907.3394

Sustainable Northwest813 SW Alder StreetSuite 500Portland, OR 97205-3121503.221.6911

YouthBuild USA58 Day Street Somerville, MA 02144802.879.2974

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The National Rural Assembly Steering Committee met in September 2011 at the Embassy of Tribal Nations in Washington, D.C., to review the recommendations that came from the 2011 Gathering in St. Paul. The Steering Committee renewed its commitment to building out the Rural Assembly’s work plan in a number of areas. These included further developing the National Rural Youth Assembly, encouraging activities that promote universal broadband access for rural America, and establishing comprehensive transportation policies that build stronger rural communi-ties. The Steering Committee endorsed the creation of new policy groups in the areas of climate change, rural philanthropy, and arts and culture. The Steering Committee also affirmed that the theme of the 2011 Gathering, “Building an Inclusive Nation,” should continue to be a core focus for the activities of the Assembly, as diverse rural people and organizations work together to help provide solutions for the nation’s current challenges. A key part of this activity will be building new partnerships and broadening the Rural Assembly network across regions and sectors.

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