Learning Through Collaboration: Field Leaders Drive Critical Conversations – A New Collaborative Blog from the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group

Just before the pandemic outbreak, four national rural-serving organizations — Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group (Aspen CSG), Rural LISC, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC), and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) — were planning a national rural summit with Aspen CSG’s Rural Development Hubs report as a catalyst. Given that a national, in-person meeting was no longer possible, these organizations shifted to a collaborative virtual effort for learning, sharing, and uplifting voices of rural practitioners.

The Rural Opportunity and Development (ROAD) sessions are a multi-year series of virtual exchanges showcasing the work of on-the-ground tribal and rural practitioners in their own voices and focused on practical rural development strategies. We believe the lessons from this work can be valuable models for other collaborative efforts to share learning at the national, state, regional, and local levels. Aspen CSG just released their collaborative blog highlighting this journey from the beginning of COVID to the present day and its future.