Aspen CSG partners with Rural Development Hubs across the country to strengthen local leadership, align funding, and build regional capacity. Through research and peer learning, we support Hub leaders to refine strategies and apply what works across regions.
In Georgia, we work with Hub partners that coordinate across sectors, align resources, and connect communities to advance long-term regional strategies.
Appalachian Community Capital
Service area: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Appalachian Community Capital is a nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) focused on attracting new sources of capital for small businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses, in underserved places across Appalachia and similar energy communities nationally.
Visit organization: appalachiancommunitycapitalcdfi.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Resources for Rural Communities, Aspen CSG in Action, How Can We Secure Enduring Capital for Equitable Rural Prosperity?, and more.
McIntosh Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (McIntosh S.E.E.D.)
Service area: Georgia.
McIntosh Sustainable Environment and Economic Development (McIntosh S.E.E.D.) is a community-led organization based in coastal Georgia and active across the Deep South, dedicated to strengthening low-wealth rural communities through asset-based economic development, education, empowerment, and environmental stewardship. Its programs, from establishing Georgia’s first community forest and advancing land retention for Black landowners to promoting local food systems, affordable housing, voter engagement, and youth leadership, are rooted in inclusive, community-centered decision-making that fosters resilience and self-determination.
Visit organization: mcintoshseed.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Measure Up: Call to Action, Using Relational Leadership to Build Power Together, and A Few Things to Know About Rural America.
MDC
Service area: West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas.
MDC equips leaders, institutions, and communities with the necessary tools and strategies to advance equity, particularly racial and gender equity, and economic mobility. For over 50 years, MDC has shared deep knowledge and proven tools to design, demonstrate, and sustain what works to boost everyone, particularly those who’ve been left behind, to higher rungs on the economic ladder.
Visit organization: mdcinc.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Q&A with MDC’s Brandy Bynum Dawson, The Power of Connection: Rural Development Hubs in Action, Funding Rural Futures: A Call to Action, and more.
Sustainable Forestry & African American Land Retention Network
Service area: Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.
The Sustainable Forestry & African American Land Retention Network (SFLR Network) creates a system of support for African American and rural forest owners that significantly increases the value of forests, land retention, and asset development for rural families in the U.S. South. The network connects African American landowners with established forestry, legal, conservation, community development, and government partners to improve forest management and support long-term land retention.
Visit organization: sflrnetwork.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Using Relational Leadership to Build Power Together and more.
