Since 1985, the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group (Aspen CSG) has been focused on building the field of balanced, locally-led development, with particular engagement with long-time under-invested rural and Indigenous communities. We strengthen regional prosperity efforts by elevating practitioner voices and facilitating and synthesizing peer learning to bring systemic change to philanthropic and public funding efforts.

As an integral part of this work, Aspen CSG serves as a central hub (connector and catalyst of ideas, people, and information) for those seeking to improve equity, opportunity, health, and prosperity in rural places. We actively center the importance of regionalism throughout our work.

Our work is guided by the Thrive Rural Framework, which provides both a shared vision and a line of sight into our current understanding of the local and systems conditions necessary for rural prosperity. Communities of all sizes across the US rely on rural people and places for water, energy, and food — making the health and economic prosperity of these places essential.