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The Rural Assembly is a coalition dedicated to building more opportunity and better policy for rural communities

We know that rural America is more than the convenient stereotypes and stories that dominate public discourse. It is a place of innovation, tight-knit communities, and civic participation. It is fire departments and schools and local organizations making a difference. There is an opportunity right now to draw the connections between rural and its counterparts, to name the roads, fibers, and futures that connect us. To craft a future of us and ours. We hope you’ll join us.

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What we're working on now

The Battle to Break Through: Reclaiming Indigenous Narratives

A new production from The Rural Assembly: “The Battle to Break Through: Reclaiming Indigenous Narratives” explores the importance of visibility and shares how four prominent leaders are working to break through to create more opportunities for Indigenous people.

Watch now

A conversation with Beau of The Fifth Column

Listen or watch our conversation with Youtube commentator Beau of the Fifth Column, who connects with folks from all walks of life and political identities through taking on political polarization, the misappropriated words of George Orwell, or gun rights and law enforcement.

Listen now

Rural Advocacy

Are you a rural advocate, community organizer, or someone who just cares deeply about issues that affect rural people and places? Start your week with the Rural Assembly’s advocacy newsletter in your inbox each week. 

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From Our Blog

Helen Matthews Lewis

Because of Helen Matthews Lewis 

September 13, 2022

Because of Helen Lewis, Whitney Kimball Coe was able to follow her calling to return home to East Tennessee, not just to build a life there but to lead, to serve, to celebrate all that we are and all we can be.  

The Rural Assembly celebrates Welcoming Week 2022

September 9, 2022

For the next week, The Rural Assembly is joining Welcoming America and partners across the country to celebrate Welcoming Week 2022.

Welcoming Week is an opportunity to celebrate the values that unite us as neighbors, parents, and colleagues, and to make our communities more welcoming to all those who call rural America home.

Carmina Taylor

Drawing Resilience: Carmina Taylor

September 1, 2022

Carmina Taylor is a passionate human service and public education advocate, and a lifelong civil rights activist. She believes giving back is more significant than receiving anything and hopes that her selfless spirit infects anyone she encounters because spreading love is so much more important to her than spreading hate.

Carmina is also the founder of the “We Can’t Wait” PA Statewide Coalition for Racial Equity and a Movement for Black and Brown Lives of Montgomery County. I spoke with her during one of her long drives between meetings with rural community leaders.

Everywhere Radio: New voices and new questions

August 25, 2022

Everywhere Radio returns this season with new voices and new questions. We want to ask rural leaders why they do what they do and how they keep going in the face of conflict: How do you stay in relationship with your neighbors despite differences? What inner resources are you drawing upon to keep showing up when the work gets hard? What are you learning along the way about yourself, your community, and the future you envision? Why does rural America matter to the future of our democracy?

Rural Journalism Collective: Reporting on Rural Schools

August 23, 2022

Reporting on Rural Education: a discussion about rural journalism and education featuring Nick Fouriezos, the only rural higher education reporter in the country, and Alan Richard, news manager for the Southern Regional Education Board and former education reporter.

Read more on our blog

Podcasts

Everywhere Radio, a hosted by Whitney Kimball Coe, features rural leaders and allies spotlighting the good, scrappy, joyful ways rural people are building a more inclusive nation. Everywhere Radio is a production of the Rural Assembly.

Lyndsie Bourgon

Everywhere Radio: Lyndsie Bourgon

Everywhere Radio: Beau of the Fifth Column

Anthony Flaccavento headshot

Everywhere Radio: Anthony Flaccavento

Check out all the podcasts

Gatherings

Spring 2022

View individual sessions from spring 2022.

Rural Women Everywhere logo

Fall 2021

View all of the sessions from October 2021

April 2021

View the wrapup video above, or view all of the sessions from Spring 2021

October 2020

View the first day of the conference above, or view all of the sessions from Fall 2020

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  • tracy@ruralstrategies.org
  • 46 E Main Street, Whitesburg KY 41858

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