To create an important aspect of the Rural Youth Assembly experience, the Rural Assembly is excited to partner with Rethinking Rural in the creation of a mentorship program. Each Rural Youth Assembly participant will be paired with a rural mentor who will connect with them digitally before, during, and after the event. Mentors will help participants navigate this boundary pushing experience and will act as rural role models who will show their mentees what a life in and dedicated to small communities can look like. Mentors will be pulled from across the country from the Rural Assembly and Rethinking Rural networks and will represent a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds that will be thoughtfully paired with each mentee based on their specific needs. 

 

In partnership with the Rural Assembly, the mentorship program is led by Madeline Moore, the cofounder and director of Rethinking Rural, a national network of rural millennials dedicated to uplifting the next generation of small community leadership. Moore lives in a community of 450 people on the coast of Washington state, 15 minutes from her childhood home, and she is honored to be able to support and encourage youth to invest in their rural communities in this way.