Since 1985, the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group (Aspen CSG) has been focused on building the field of sustainable equitable development, with particular engagement with long-time under-invested rural and Indigenous communities. We strengthen regional prosperity efforts by elevating practitioner voices, facilitating peer learning, and bringing 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 racial, geographic, and class equity 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 to realize that vision. 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.