Change in the Coalfields: A Podcast by Coalfield Development

In honor of Labor Day, the Coalfield Development team celebrated our monthly Council Day with an afternoon summer shindig to show appreciation for our crew members and their families. Hosted on the front lawn of the old Fort Gay High School in Fort Gay, West Virginia, the team took some time to kick back, relax, and enjoy food trucks, axe throwing, and cornhole.

This week on Change in the Coalfields we chat with Heidi Binko. Heidi is a long time advocate for the Appalachian region as well as many regions abroad that have similar issues with climate, coal, and energy. She is co-founder and executive director of the Just Transition Fund which helps to 

https://www.justtransitionfund.org/

This week we have a special bonus episode where we hear from a few of our crew members on the ground at our monthly crew member council day. This council day was extra special as it was our first in person council day since February 2020 due to the pandemic. Great to have our community back together again face to face! 

Today we have a great conversation with Jina Belcher. Jina was born and raised in Welch, WV.   After starting her own business at 16 years old, Jina was the first student to receive the McKelvey Foundation Entrepreneurial Scholarship during their junior year of high school. After graduating from Concord University in 2009 with a B.S. in Recreation and Tourism Management with an emphasis in Event Planning & Promotions, Jina returned home to assist her family in expanding the only non-profit food pantry in McDowell County.

In February 2019, Jina officially joined the NRGRDA as Director of Business Development. Combining her previous community development skills with her background in finance and social enterprise will allow her to provide the New River Gorge region with resources and expertise needed to grow the thriving economy of Southern WV.

This week we have a conversation with  Debbie Phillips.
Debbie is a former House member in Ohio and currently the CEO of Rural Action.  As a House member, she served on the House Finance Committee, House Education Committee, House Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, the Joint Legislative Ethics Commission and the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. She also previously served as a member of Athens City Council. She was the founding Executive Director of the Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, which was hosted through Rural Action and worked to promote quality public education. 
Debbie’s core purpose is to help connect people to a sense of agency and joy. 

Today we bring Coalfield Development's book club to the podcast with special guest, Glenn Taylor. Glenn is the author of the novels A Hanging at Cinder Bottom, The Marrowbone Marble Company and The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, GQ, and Electric Literature, among others. 
Glenn was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia, and he now lives with his wife and three sons in Morgantown, where he teaches in the MFA Program at West Virginia University.

For more information about Glenn go to www.glenntaylorbooks.com

This week we have a conversation with  Coalfield's very own Patrick Bradshaw. Pat is a Coalfield Champion as well as Crew Chief of Refresh Appalachia, one of our social enterprises.  

Pat's story is powerful, inspiring and one that we think exemplifies exactly what Coalfield Development strives to accomplish with everyone we have the pleasure of working with. 
We're extremely proud of Pat and all that he's accomplished these past few years with us. 

Check out a special video feature of Pat here: https://youtu.be/W1WxT9y85mc

We will be releasing new episodes bi-weekly, sometimes even more regularly, for the remainder of 2021 so make sure to sign up for our newsletter and subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen to get the most up to date episodes! 

https://coalfield-development.org/