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About

Our Mission

At the Center for Rural Strategies, we seek to improve economic and social conditions for communities in the countryside and around the world through the creative and innovative use of media and communications. We strive to create better opportunities for small towns and rural communities by building coalitions, developing partnerships, leading public information campaigns, and advancing strategies that strengthen connections between rural and urban places.

By presenting accurate and compelling portraits of rural lives and cultures, we hope to deepen public debate and create a national environment in which positive change for rural communities can occur.

Rural Strategies produces media and we design and implement public information campaigns that educate the public about the problems and opportunities that exist in contemporary rural communities. We also help communities and nonprofit organizations incorporate rural media and communications into their work in support of strategic goals. Rural Strategies publishes information about rural issues, works with press to assist them in the coverage of rural topics, and works with a wide range of partners to build a stronger voice on behalf of rural communities.

We believe that rural America's fate is interrelated to the fate of metropolitan and urban America. Building stronger rural communities helps the nation as a whole.

Our Funders

Thank you to our funders, who make the work of the Center for Rural Strategies possible. Major funders include:

  • Acton Family Foundation

  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

  • Carnegie Corporation

  • Chorus Foundation

  • Hearst Foundations

  • Hearthland Foundation

  • Henry Luce Foundation

  • Impact Assets

  • Lilly Endowment

  • LOR Foundation

  • Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies

  • The Miami Foundation (via NewsMatch)

  • Nathan Cummings Foundation

  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

  • Scripps Howard Foundation

  • Waterman II Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation

  • And more than 300 individual donors to the Daily Yonder.

Statement Concerning Editorial Programs

The Daily Yonder operates independently from other Center for Rural Strategies projects and personnel in making editorial decisions. Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, is publisher of the Daily Yonder. Editorial decisions are the purview of the news staff, directed by the editor, Tim Marema.

We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our editorial activities, but news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Acceptance of financial support does not mean the Daily Yonder endorses donors or their products, services or opinions. A full statement of editorial independence can be found on the Daily Yonder website.