Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development

Tool Development

Yellow Wood brings a special combination of content and process expertise to our work.

We invite you to explore our work.  Recent projects and presentations are listed below.  You can explore additional work using the various tags in the right hand column.

Regards to Rural 2015 Conference: Pre-Session, "WealthWorks Northwest"

Shanna Ratner was the featured presenter at the Regards to Rural 2015 Conference Pre-Session, “WealthWorks Northwest,” consisting of three workshops introducing WealthWorks. The first workshop, “WealthWorks Northwest! Building Rural Wealth,” focused…

ActionAid, Developing a Handbook for a Gender Sensitive Framework for Access to Market and Value Chains

Shanna Ratner worked with Barbara Wyckoff of Dynamica Consulting to develop a handbook for ActionAid.  This work built off of the framework developed in the Kathmandu workshop on Gender Sensitive Access to Market and Value Chains. Topics addressed…

ActionAid Workshop on Gender Sensitive Access to Market and Value Chain, Thamel, Kathmandu

Shanna Ratner and Barbara Wyckoff were invited by ActionAid to co-facilitate a five day workshop in Nepal. The participants included partners and ActionAid staff from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Senegal together with two women community…

Knowledge and Learning Transfer and Training for the Wealth Creation Approach to Rural and Regional Development Project, The Aspen Institute

Yellow Wood collaborated with the Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group to develop a knowledge transfer platform for development practitioners who want to use the wealth creation approach developed through the Ford Foundation’s Wealth Creation…

Woody Biomass Energy Research Symposium for the Northern Forest – “Community Roadmap to
 Renewable Woody Biomass” (Panel)

Panelists Kamalesh Doshi and Samantha Dunn, along with panel organizer Sarah S. Smith, discussed the The Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy (the Roadmap) as part of a panel at the Woody Biomass Energy Research Symposium. The roadmap…

Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center, 5Capitals Toolkit for Pro-Poor Value Chain Development

Shanna Ratner was invited to serve as one of three external advisors to Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) to help refine and finalize 5Capitals - A toolkit to improve impacts of pro-poor value chain development. The…

Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy

Yellow Wood partnered with the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) to develop the Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy: A step-by-step decision-making tool for NH communities through a contract…

Dissemination Planning for the Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy

Yellow Wood assisted the North Country Resource Conservation and Development Area Council and Roadmap development partners in planning for dissemination of the Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy.

Measuring the Economic Impact of Byways Designation, America's Byways Resource Center

Yellow Wood Associates worked with the America’s Byways Resource Center to develop a tool to measure the economic impact of scenic byways and All-American Roads. This work involved engaging a steering committee, determining the specific needs of byway…

University of Minnesota Extension Service Business Retention and Expansion Program

The University of Minnesota Extension Service Business Retention and Expansion Program selected Yellow Wood Associates to develop a tool to test the theory that building social capital in communities while focusing on community economic development…

University of Minnesota Extension Service Leadership and Civic Engagement Program

The Leadership and Civic Engagement Program of the University of Minnesota Extension Service selected Yellow Wood Associates to work with a team of Extension professionals to create an interactive tool to measure social capital in Minnesota communities.…

New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Social Capital

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation on the integration of social capital into their grant-making process. The work involved facilitating the Social Capital Multiplier Group, researching social capital applications…

A Network Evaluation Model for Sustainable Businesses

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. designed a unique evaluation tool to use with the 23 business groups who received assistance within VSJF’s first two years of operation. The first function of the tool assesses the development and status of networks between…