Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development

Wealth Creation in Rural Communities - Building Sustainable Livelihoods (WealthWorks)

Tags: Wealth Creation

Client Name: Ford Foundation

Client Type: Foundation

Year: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Location: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, West Virginia

Yellow Wood Associates is the managing grantee and thought leader for Wealth Creation in Rural Communities - Building Sustainable Livelihoods (now WealthWorks), an initiative of the Ford Foundation that seeks to improve rural livelihoods with a systems approach to development that creates multiple forms of wealth that are owned and controlled locally. Yellow Wood provides the conceptual “glue” that holds the initiative together. We work directly with grantees on the ground in three regions of the United States – Central Appalachia, the South, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley – providing coaching, technical assistance, and measurement training. We also coordinate with grantees providing various forms of support to the initiative including research on rural/urban connections and policy, clinics (at MIT and Wake Forest University), knowledge transfer tools, corporate engagement, impact investing, value chain financing, and the role of community foundations, economic development organizations, and regional funders. In addition, we work with national groups such as the National Cooperative Business Association to explore applications of wealth creation value chains and the wealth creation framework to their work.

Related Projects

National Rural Electric Cooperative 2013 CEO Close-Up Conference
National Cooperative Business Association Wealth Creation Pilot Project
Achieving Sustainable Communities and Social Equity Conference
Wealth Creation in Rural Communities: 2011 NCBA Annual Meeting and Cooperative Conference
NADO Economic Development Finance Service Peer Networking Conference
Cornell University, Wealth Creation in Rural Communities Presentations
Growing Health 2012
Community Action 2012: Working for Opportunity and Economic Security in America, Wealth Creation in Rural Communities Presentation
Community Economic Development: Building Sustainable Economies, UVM
Blood, Muscle, Bone: A Story of Wealth and Poverty
12th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth: Building Safe, Healthy, Equitable, and Prosperous Communities Conference, February 8, 2013, Kansas City Convention Center, Missouri
NADO National Rural Transportation Peer Learning Conference, April 2012, Burlington, VT
NADO Rural Sustainable Development Workshop, April 26-27, 2012, Burlington VT
NADO Sustainable Communities Omaha, Creating and Retaining Wealth: New Ways of Approaching Economic Development in Rural and Small Metro Communities
ActionAid, The Wealth Creation Framework & International Values Chains Work: An International Workshop
Minnesota Campus Compact Webinar: Supporting Rural Economic Vitality through Campus-Community Partnerships
Cooperatives and the Wealth Creation Approach
2014 NCRC Annual Conference - A Just Economy: Ideas, Action, Impact
21st Annual Conference on the Adirondacks, 2014: Moving Forward- Revitalizing Communities and Forging Opportunities
Vermont Nonprofit Conference 2013, “Measuring Impact to Build Locally Controlled Wealth”
Wealth Creation in Rural Communities, Phases 1 and 2: Triple Bottom Line Framework for Rural America
Appalachia Funders Network, Pre-Conference Session at the Second Annual Gathering, June 2011
Community Indicators Consortium Impact Summit 2013, “Measuring Impact Using a WealthWorks Approach.”
Appalachian Harvest Think Tank
2013 CED Webinar Series, "Measuring the Success of Your Community Economic Development and Healthy Food Projects"
Regards to Rural 2015 Conference: Pre-Session, "WealthWorks Northwest"
Regards to Rural 2015 Conference: Keynote, "Navigating the Rivers of Change: Rural Communities in Transition"