Our featured photo of the week from the Hopi Reservation in Arizona
Photo by Jill Bullock
Want to have your photo featured in our newsletter and on our social media pages?
Rural Assembly visits with old and new friends at "Continuing the Conversation: The Power of Welcome"
Left: Speakers included many Rural Assembly friends and partners such as Krista Tippett, Founder and CEO of the On Being Project ; Tom Cosgrove, Founder and President of New Voice Strategies ; and Reverend Jennifer Bailey, Founder and Executive Director of the Faith Matters Network . Top right:Whitney Kimball Coe and Krista Tippett. Bottom right: A beautiful sunset on the final night of the conference in Asheville.
This past week, Whitney Kimball Coe, Director of the Rural Assembly, and Mary Sketch, Program Associate, attended the Duke Endowment's event "Continuing the Conversation: Embracing the Power of Welcome" in Asheville, North Carolina. Through their Rural Church Program Area, the Duke Endowment works with pastors across Rural North and South Carolina to strengthen their parishes and communities. The event included inspiring and thoughtful conversations and workshops on fostering civil conversation and inclusion.
New Appalachian Leadership Institute to help build long term community capacity
The Appalachian Regional Commission is now accepting applications for the inaugural class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute. The Leadership Institute is "a comprehensive leadership and economic development training opportunity for people who live and/or work in Appalachia and are passionate about helping their communities thrive."

The 2019-2020 Fellowship will run October 2019 - July 2020 and Applications are due June 1, 2019.
Carlton Turner announced as keynote of Rural Generation Summit
Carlton Turner works across the country as a performing artist, arts advocate, policy shaper, lecturer, consultant, and facilitator. He is founder of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production , which uses arts and agriculture to support cultural, economic, and social development in his community of Utica, Mississippi where he lives with his wife Brandi and three children. Carlton is a 2017-18 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, a Cultural Policy Fellow at the Creative Placemaking Institute at Arizona State University, and a member of the RUPRI Rural Cultural Wealth Lab.

Carlton will provide the Keynote Address at the Rural Generation Summit on May 22.
Remember to mark your calendars for the 2019 Rural Women's Summit!

We are excited to announce the 2019 Rural Women's Summit, to be held October 27-29 in Greenville, SC. The Rural Women’s Summit emphasizes the role rural women play in creating a more equitable and inclusive nation.

This Summit is designed for rural practitioners, leaders, and advocates to articulate the broad civic, political, and cultural impact of women’s leadership in rural America, to name the ways rural women are agents of change, to call out the barriers rural women face every day, and to proclaim the powerful role rural women play in creating compassionate communities. 

SAVE THE DATE: October 27-29 in Greenville, SC
Spectators line the streets of Nederland, Colorado, to watch the Hearse Parade before the Coffin Races during Frozen Dead Guy Days. During the three-day weekend, more than 25,000 people will visit the small town of 1,500 people located some 8,000 feet above sea level. (Photo by Liz Carey)
From Dead Guys to Fireflies: Fast-Growing Tourism Doesn't Always Bring Joy

In the age of the internet, a tourism boon can quickly become a tourism bane. Colorado’s Frozen Dead Guy Days, Tennessee’s synchronous fireflies, and California’s Super Bloom deliver varying degrees of revenue and frustration for small towns.
Remember to check out our new "All Things Rural" calendar of events here and submit your events to be featured on the calendar here !