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VISION: COMMUNITIES WORKING WITH FUNDERS ON THEIR OWN TERMS
When people and organizations in underinvested rural communities and Native nations seek funding for their work, they are often required to learn and use specific language, processes, practices, and measures of success to conform to funder expectations and systems. This process can be difficult, intimidating, and frustrating — and it requires community members to adopt strategies toward success metrics that don’t always match what the communities prioritize.
Recognizing this, some funders are shifting gears to learn communities’ language, processes, and practices, enabling more equitable partnerships and impactful projects that meet community needs.
VOICES: BUILDING FUNDER CAPACITY
Respectful engagement with rural communities and Native nations on their own terms is essential to environmental justice. Fair treatment and meaningful involvement require agencies and funders to build their own capacity to engage communities effectively. Some funders are working to build their capacities by learning from communities, shifting power to communities (trust-based philanthropy), and changing the way they operate to better meet community needs. Philanthropic funders, especially, are well-positioned to experiment with new models that can then be adopted and adapted by larger institutions like federal agencies.
Featured in this case study: Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation in rural southeastern California is a leader in this movement, modeling and demonstrating ways to collaboratively build capacity across agencies, funders, organizations, and communities. And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) is an example of a federal agency structure that can be leveraged to implement successful models.
“For me, it’s always been about developing trust through a community-building approach. What I’ve done is really looked at power building with the underinvested communities.”
Roque Barros, Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation
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Regional Analysis and Action
Public and private policy, investment, and incentives encourage and stimulate collaborative regional action and the capacity of regional efforts to address shared cross-community economic, social, and health challenges and opportunities.
Ready Rural Capital Access and Flow
Public, private, and philanthropic financial capital and durable funding streams are reliably available, easily accessible and affordable, and consistently and strategically invested in rural people, places, organizations, and economies.
Rural Stakeholder Equity
Governments, businesses, and institutions operated by individuals and owners outside rural communities establish balanced relationships that produce mutual and fair value for the rural community, Native nation, business, and worker stakeholders.
Balanced Development Outcomes
Policymakers and investors in rural and Native people, places, and enterprises define and measure development success as decreasing economic and racial inequality and reducing poverty while building local wealth, sustainability, and resilience.
Rural Voice in Design and Action
A robust, representative, diverse and powerful network of Native nation and rural leaders, practitioners, and doers consistently engage in advising and influencing narrative, policy design, and action agendas across sectors and levels of government.
Aspen CSG’s consultant Rebecca Huenink led the writing process for our What’s Working in Rural series. We are grateful for her contributions.
