Agriculture Secretary Vilsack will speak on JUNE 25 AT 11:15am

 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is a featured speaker at the 2013 National Rural Assembly.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is a featured speaker at the 2013 National Rural Assembly.

Secretary Vilsack’s recent commentary on the relevancy of rural has captured the moment and focused rural practitioners on where our works fits in.  We’ve invited the Secretary to expand upon the theme of rural relevancy, to highlight some strategic opportunities going forward for rural to influence national policy conversations, and to offer a vision for the future of rural America and our nation.


In his video message to the 2011 National Rural Assembly in St. Paul, Secretary Vilsack said that “a healthy American economy depends on a healthy rural America.”   Two years later, in his speech on rural relevancy, he urged that rural “needs a proactive message, not a reactive message.”  At this year’s Assembly, we’ll deliver a proactive message about an inclusive America that values all the people and all the places, rural and urban.  

Compelling speakers will help us make the case. Come hear from Secretary Vilsack, Secretary Sebelius, a host of rural leaders and practitioners, and members of the White House Rural Council.

A few reminders: 

Book your hotel room NOW to get the group rate. The absolute last day to book your room at our conference hotel is Monday, June 10.

Apply for a scholarship to attend the conference.

And register for the Young Professionals Leadership Training while you’re at it! 

Drawing Resilience: Jaiden Dokken

Jaiden Dokken is a writer, printmaker, ceramicist, cidermaker, and self-described highly persistent pen pal. They are Clallam County’s first Poet Laureate and will spend the next two years bringing poetry to the northwesternmost corner of Washington State. Dokken’s work has been published in Fiction International, Algorithm, Muses and Vices, SpeakEasy, Superfroot Magazine, and Pile Press. They are an editor and reader for Perennial Press.

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How to share your story at Everywhere

Save the date for Rural Assembly Everywhere, a multimedia production designed by and for rural leaders and their allies, on June 28th!

A free virtual event, Everywhere: Toward Safer, More Connected Communities will explore the ways rural people are pushing back against harmful policies and narratives and the steps they are taking to create safer, more connected communities.

Read More »

Coming soon: Rural Assembly Everywhere Summer 2023

Save the date for Rural Assembly Everywhere, a multimedia production designed by and for rural leaders and their allies, on June 28th!

A free virtual event, Everywhere: Toward Safer, More Connected Communities will explore the ways rural people are pushing back against harmful policies and narratives and the steps they are taking to create safer, more connected communities.

Read More »