Melissa Levy presented, “Wealth Creation in Rural Communities: Measuring Impact to Build Locally Controlled Wealth” at the Vermont Nonprofit Conference in Fairlee, Vermont in March 2013. The Ford Foundation’s Wealth Creation in Rural Communities initiative uses a systems approach to promote local wealth creation to improve the well-being of the nation’s most rural communities. The outcomes-based program links together a community’s assets, producers and consumers in ways that benefit everyone and builds locally controlled community wealth. Melissa Levy’s presentation covered the main tools of this approach (value chains and a wealth matrix with a focus on seven forms of wealth); presented relevant examples of work on the ground in Central Appalachia, Deep South and the Rio Grande Valley; and led participants in exercise that allowed them think about and share with each other how their work creates outcomes and impacts on seven forms of wealth.
Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development
