Whitney Kimball Coe is the director of National Programs at the Center for Rural Strategies. In that role, she leads the Rural Assembly, a nationwide movement striving to build better policy and more opportunity for rural communities across the country. As an organizer, speaker, moderator, and writer, Whitney has shared her perspectives on community and civic courage with audiences around the world. She has been featured on stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival and the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit, and as a guest on the radio program On Being with Krista Tippett.
Whitney Kimball Coe
Vice President of National Programs
Tyler Owens (she/her) is from the Gila River Indian Community in Southern Arizona where she was born and raised. Prior to joining the Rural Assembly, Owens worked with the National Congress of American Indians where she took on various roles, such as: Membership Coordinator, Youth Program Associate, and Administrative Assistance. These formative roles in her early career have equipped Owens to service the Rural Assembly and serve communities similar to hers.
Tyler Owens
Program Associate
Tracy Staley (she/her) lives in Dayton, Ohio, by way of Hazard, Ky. She is a marketing specialist for Great Stories LLC, a digital marketing and advertising company in Kentucky. At the Rural Assembly, Staley works on social media, content, email newsletters, and publicity. Staley has two decades of communications work for newspapers, magazines, companies and nonprofits. When she is not working, Staley enjoys reading, writing, and live music.
Tracy Staley
Communication Specialist
Xandr Brown, 25, is currently a Daily Yonder fellow with a focus on multimedia reporting and building her environmental reporting beat. In 2018, she graduated undergrad from the University of Rochester in upstate New York in History and Communications with a minor in Environmental Humanities. She is currently based in Michigan's Flint-area where she previously reported with hyperlocal newsrooms, Flintside.com and Flintbeat.com. Her talents include singing/songwriting and a pretty convincing Obama impersonation. When she's not falling down a Youtube rabbit hole, she likes to read and write stories that she hopes to get published one day.
Xandr Brown
Associate Producer
Kim Phinney is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Rural Strategies. Previously she was the Vice President of Program Design for YouthBuild USA. In this position, she collaborated with senior leaders to craft the organization’s strategic direction as well as led the overall design and implementation of TA, training, and organizational learning across education, career pathways, and life skills for rural, Native, and urban programs across the country. Kim joined YouthBuild USA in 2001 to design a national initiative to create and strengthen education and career pathways for rural and Native Opportunity Youth. She served as the senior director of Rural and Native Initiatives, overseeing technical assistance and training to the national field of over 70 rural and Native YouthBuild programs.
Kim Phinney
Fellow, Center for Rual Strategies
Joel Cohen has earned awards and critical acclaim over his almost 30 years as a video producer/director/editor. His national public television experience started with a three-year run of The 90’s, a magazine style show featuring the work of independent producers from around the world. He was also the co-creator of the five-time Midwest Emmy-award–winning series Check, Please!, a Chicago restaurant-review series.
He has collaborated on numerous video projects with the Center for Rural Strategies, including a documentary about the recovery of rural Louisiana and Mississippi after hurricanes Rita and Katrina. With Rural Strategies he has also done video work for the Kellogg Foundation, Duke Endowment, National Rural Assembly, Rural LISC, NeighborWorks, Oprah’s Angel Network, and the Housing Assistance Council.
