10/7/2020 Ten Notable Resources for Cross-Sector Collaboration in Rural Areas

TEN NOTABLE RESOURCES FOR

CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATION IN RURAL
AREAS

To help users nd relevant, quality resources from our Resource Library, we create curated
lists on a variety of topics, bringing important practitioner- and academic-oriented work to
the forefront.
 
Here we present resources on cross-sector collaboration in rural areas — cases, articles,
multimedia, and reports that tackle topics ranging from rural sustainability to improving
education to providing broadband and more.
 
View all our curated lists here.

 CASE

Rural Sustainability in Western North Carolina, The Intersector Project, 2014

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In 2004, after 50 years in operation, the Asheville Livestock Market in Western North
Carolina closed its doors. Many local farmers then faced a di cult decision: Continue raising
cattle and absorb the increased cost of travel to buy and sell their livestock, or give up
cattle farming completely. Bill Gibson, Director of the Southwestern Regional Council of
Governments, was called upon to develop a plan to build and operate a central livestock
market, which would preserve the economic and environmental ecosystems of the region.
This case study tells the story of how Bill became the “seal of approval” in the pursuit of
funding for a new market, connecting participants from all sectors at multiple levels.

 CASE

Collective Impact Case Study: Franklin County Communities that Care Coalition, FSG,
2013
✴ Available with free registration
“Franklin County Communities that Care Coalition is a collective impact initiative to reduce
substance use and improve the ability of youth to reach their full potential in rural Franklin
County, Massachusetts. A resource for collective impact backbone organizations, funders,
and partners, this case study provides an overview of the initiative, along with lessons
learned.”

 SCHOLARLY ARTICLE

Rural Cross-sector Collaboration: A Social Frontier Analysis, American Educational

Research Journal, Peter M. Miller, Martin K. Scanlan, and Kate Phillippo, 2017
✴ Available only with purchase from publisher
“Schools throughout the United States apply comprehensive community partnership
strategies to address students’ in- and out-of-school needs. … Extant research on cross-
sector collaboration focuses disproportionately on urban settings. This qualitative study
examined three years of cross-sector collaboration in ‘Midvale,’ a rural community in the
western United States. Applying the conceptual framework of social frontiers, it illuminates
how issues of di erence, competition, and resource constraint impacted cross-sector
collaboration in Midvale’s rural context.”

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 SCHOLARLY ARTICLE

Mobilization and Adaptation of a Rural Cradle-to-Career Network, Education Sciences,

Sarah J. Zuckerman, 2016
“This case study explore[s] the development of a rural cradle-to-career network with a dual
focus on the initial mobilization of network members and subsequent adaptations made to
maintain mobilization, while meeting local needs. … Three network adaptations were
discovered: Special rural community organizing strategies, district-level action planning,
and a theory of action focused on out-of-school factors. All three were attributable to the
composition of mobilized stakeholders and this network’s rural social geography. These
ndings illuminate the importance of social geography in the development and
advancement of rural cradle-to-career networks.”

 REPORT

Turning the Tide on Persistent Rural Poverty: Blueprint for a Path Forward,
NeighborWorks America, Nick Mitchell-Bennett, Jim King, Bill Bynum, and Chrystel
Cornelius, 2017
“In late 2014, a working group formed to focus on partnerships to tackle persistent rural
poverty, including the four authors of this paper. Together, the members of the working
group represent the hardest-hit rural areas of the country. … This paper invites a bottom-up
approach in which those living in and working with the a ected communities directly
identify the remaining challenges and the most e ective solutions.”

 MULTIMEDIA

Webinar: Unlocking Investment in Rural America, Mission Investors Exchange, Bill Bynum,
Justin Maxson, and Lisa Mensah, 2016
This webinar discusses Uplift America, a public-private-philanthropic partnership tackling
rural poverty. “The Uplift America Fund leverages $500 million for communities in need and
creates additional rural infrastructure through increasing the capacity of community
development nancial institutions (CDFIs). … This lively conversation will help participants
envision creative solutions for their own communities, including how philanthropic leaders
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can apply catalytic grant dollars alongside other impact investors, provide exible capital,
and nd the right t for each partner.”

 REPORT

Successful Strategies for Broadband Public-Private Partnerships, Institute for Local Self
Reliance, Patrick Lucey and Christopher Mitchell, 2016
One of the cases highlighted in this report, which explores public-private partnerships for
broadband, is the town of Leverett, Massachussetts: “Leverett took the lead on the project
by contracting with various entities, both public and private, to build, manage, and activate
the network. LeverettNet is not so much a comprehensive PPP agreement as it is a series of
bids and awarded contracts culminating in a municipal network leased to a local ISP. Yet it
does represent another approach to how public and private actors can work together on a
local network project, one where the public actor takes on additional control and risk while
outsourcing multiple roles to other partners.”

 REPORT

E ective Rural Governance: What Is It? Does It Matter?, Rural Governance Initiative at the
Rural Policy Research Institute, Nancy Stark, 2006
“This framing paper de nes e ective governance, explains why governance is suddenly in
the spotlight, details and illustrates eight key principles of e ective rural governance, and
poses questions that ground the Rural Governance Initiative. … E ective governance
incorporates a variety of decision-making and implementation practices by a wide range of
people, organizations, and institutions beyond government: nonpro t groups, faith-based
organizations, community foundations, citizen alliances, community colleges, business
associations, and others.”

 REPORT

Financing Tools and Partnerships for Rural and Semiurban Transportation Projects,
Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin, Khali Persad, C.
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Michael Walton, and Patricia Franco, 2008

“In this research product, nancing techniques and partnerships for rural and small urban
area transportation projects are presented. With traditional transportation revenue sources
lagging and maintenance demanding more attention, non-urban areas have less funding
for new projects. This research examine[s] alternative nancing options, experience with
them, and lessons learned. The results will be of use to TxDOT district sta in developing
partnerships with local and private entities to address local needs.”

 TOOL

Rural Community Health Toolkit, Rural Health Information Hub

“This toolkit provides rural communities with the information, resources, and materials they
need to develop a community health program in a rural community. Each of the toolkit’s six
modules contains information that communities can apply to develop a rural health
program, regardless of the speci c health topic the program addresses. The toolkit also
links to issue-speci c toolkits for more in-depth information.”

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