Alumni Newsletter: Summer Issue 2021

Greetings Alumni,

One of the things that I’m most proud of at the NC Rural Center is our 30-year commitment to training rural leaders. For most of that history, we’ve delivered leadership trainings through the Rural Economic Development Institute (REDI). In 2016, based on the feedback and recommendations of a few REDI alumni, we designed a three-day leadership training that would take place in regions throughout the state. We offered our first pilot training in Southwest North Carolina, and Homegrown Leaders was born!

Over the past three years, we’ve relied on feedback from our participants to continually improve Homegrown Leaders, and we’ve kept our ears to the ground to make sure we are delivering content that is timely and relevant. We’ve researched best practices in leadership development and rural community economic development to be able to provide cutting-edge information, tools, and strategies to our participants. What follows is a recap of our Homegrown Leaders program to-date and what you can expect in the future.

From 2018 to 2020, we delivered Homegrown Leaders West, providing a total of five regional trainings and serving 31 counties in Western North Carolina. We wrapped up Homegrown Leaders West with 162 alumni and 3,249 training hours.

We launch Homegrown Leaders East in 2020 with the commitment to provide five regional trainings by 2022.

The training region covers 42 counties in Eastern North Carolina. We just concluded the first year of Homegrown Leaders East, having provided three (2 virtual and 1 in-person) of the five trainings, and have graduated 104 rural leaders across Eastern North Carolina. The final two trainings will occur in 2022.

During the past 18 months, we had to pivot, practice innovation, remain flexible, and stay up-to-date and relevant with course design, content, and delivery. Here are some highlights and improvements to the training:

So, what’s next? We will finish Homegrown Leaders East in the summer of 2022 and have received many inquiries asking when we will provide training in the central regions of North Carolina. For the NC Rural Center to be able to provide quality training to our rural leaders and emerging leaders, we must secure funding investments and will be focused on that in the near future. Stay tuned for more.

Thank you for your continued partnership and dedication to the communities you call home. Happy Summer!

We are proud to welcome 32 new Homegrown Leaders into our Leadership Alumni Network from the following counties in Eastern North Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Carteret, Craven, Greene, Lenoir, Pamlico, and Pitt! These graduates completed the Rural Center's first in-person leadership training since the pandemic. The training took place in New Bern on July 20-22.

Both new and seasoned alumni alike can add your certification to your LinkedIn profile by following these instructions.

You can also join us in the Leadership Alumni Network Facebook Group where we share resources, post training opportunities, and connect with other leaders across the state.

Remember you can view a list of all of our leaders in our Alumni Network Database.

We are excited to be in the midst of planning for REDI 2021, after canceling REDI 2020 due to Covid-19. REDI will take place this fall for the previously selected participants. We are not accepting new applications at this time.

Thank you for participating in our Rural Realities survey! The NC Rural Center staff is excited to dive into the insights you shared, and we plan on distributing the results to alumni in the coming months.

The NC Small Business Coalition is actively recruiting entrepreneurs, small business owners, advocates, and resource providers from communities across the state. This coalition, created out of an initiative from the Rural Center’s Small Business Policy Task Force, is focused on advancing policies and programs geared at supporting the state’s vital small business community. Through a combination of engagement opportunities, policy advocacy, and resource collaboration, the Coalition will work to ensure the voices of our state's small business owners are heard from our rural, urban, and suburban main streets to Jones Street in Raleigh.

Eight different Leadership Alumni classes were represented during our June 29 virtual trivia game! Congratulations to the winners:

1st Place Winner - Sarah Johnston,

HGL - East 2021

2nd Place Winner - Michael Gavin,

HGL - West 2018

3rd Place Winner - Deneen Gill,

HGL - West 2019

Winners took home prize packages from Made in NC. Thanks to all who participated!

ARC Issues RFP for Appalachian Community Capacity-Building Pilot Program (Proposals due August 27, 2021)

American Rescue Plan Funds: What NC Nonprofits Need to Know (September 3, 2021)

NC Employee Ownership Center Lunch and Learn: Employee Ownership: A strategy for business succession and resiliency (September 8, 2021)

Brushy Fork Leadership Summit (September 13-24, 2021)

Western Prosperity Zone Community-Based Grants Initiative Convening (September 15, 2021)

American Rescue Plan Act Build Back Better Regional Challenge (October 19, 2021)

Spitfire Executive Training Program (November, 2021)

North Carolina Humanities seeks six venues to host the touring exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America in 2022-2023 (October 14, 2021)

If you have an upcoming event, noteworthy news, or other information that you would like to share with your leadership alumni network, please contact Emily Holder, Program Associate, at eholder@ncruralcenter.org

www.ncruralcenter.org | @ncruralcenter