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 Texas, we work with Hub partners that coordinate across sectors, align resources, and connect communities to advance long-term regional strategies.
Abara
Service area: Texas.
Abara is a nonprofit based in the El Paso–Juárez borderlands, dedicated to building connection, understanding, and peace across the U.S.–Mexico border. Through immersive programs like Border Encounters, compassionate Border Response efforts, and the creation of Abara House, a restored historic center for peacebuilding steps from the border fence, they foster environments where stories are honored, divisions are bridged, and individual dignity is upheld.
Visit organization: abara.org
cdcb | come dream. come build.
Service area: Texas.
come dream. come build. (cdcb) is a nonprofit community housing development organization. Founded in 1974, cdcb has been providing safe, sanitary, affordable housing to the citizens of South Texas, and is now one of the largest nonprofit producers of single-family housing for homeownership in Texas.
Visit organization: cdcb.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Funding Rural Futures: A Call to Action and Through Natural Disaster to Prosperity: A Call to Action.
Center for Heirs’ Property
Service area: South Carolina and East Texas.
The Center for Heirs’ Property provides free legal support and financial education to prevent the loss of heirs’ property rights while preserving family legacies. Rooted in South Carolina, they envision a nation in which everyone can enjoy the legacy of home.
Visit organization: heirsproperty.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Learnings on Rural Migration and Displacement.
Chicanos Por La Causa
Service area: Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and California.
Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) began with a group of student and community activists who pushed back against racial discrimination. Today, they provide services to people of all backgrounds while honoring their Mexican American roots. Their programs give individuals and families a seat at the table.
Visit organization: cplc.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Building Power Towards an Equitable Rural Economy and Rural Development Hubs: Strengthening America’s Rural Innovation Infrastructure.
Communities Unlimited
Service area: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
Communities Unlimited connects rural Americans to solutions that sustain healthy businesses, healthy communities, and healthy lives. They believe that access to opportunities should not depend on where you live, how much you have in the bank, or what you look like.
Visit organization: communitiesu.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Measure Up: A Call to Action, Rural Development Hubs Report, Ten Podcasts Focused on Rural Community and Economic Development, Four Principles for Fostering Community Well-Being with Asset-Based Development, and more.
MDC
Service area: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
MDC equips leaders, institutions, and communities with the necessary tools and strategies to advance equity, particularly racial and gender equity, and economic mobility. For more than 50 years, MDC has shared deep knowledge and proven tools to design, demonstrate, and sustain what works to boost everyone, particularly those who have 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.
Odessa College
Service area: Texas.
Odessa College is a public community college in Odessa, Texas, dedicated to providing accessible, high-quality education and workforce training. It offers a wide range of academic programs, technical certifications, and continuing education opportunities designed to meet the needs of students and the regional economy. The college emphasizes innovation, student success, and community partnerships, preparing graduates for both immediate career opportunities and further education.
Visit organization: odessa.edu
Sustainable Forestry & African American Land Retention Network
Service area: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
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 SFLR Network has improved forest management and forest retention by connecting African American landowners with established networks of local forestry support. This includes federal and state government programs, businesses, nonprofit conservation, legal, and community development organizations.
Visit organization: sflrnetwork.org
Featured in Aspen CSG resources: Using Relational Leadership to Build Power Together and more.
