Episode recorded live in Minneapolis-St.Paul on June 11th, 2025 at the Council on Foundations’ nonprofit funders conference, Leading Locally. Ash Hanson of Department of Public Transformation and Winter Kinne of Community Foundation of the Ozarks took the plenary stage for a conversation about funding the urban-rural connection with show host, Erin Borla.

Funding Rural is coming back this fall, starting on September 23, 2025 and we can't wait to share the new episodes. Your host, Erin Borla of The Roundhouse Foundation in Sisters, Oregon has been talking with a lot of change agents, steadfast funders, and proud rural advocates in preparation for this season. We think you'll enjoy their perspectives and hope you'll stick around for all the third season episodes. Be sure to head over to our hub, FundingRural.com, for more information.

Narrative plays a critical role in what funders support, and unexamined narratives can create unintended consequences. We often hear about the brain drain in communities as young talent leaves, but Rural Sociologist Ben Winchester offers facts around an alternative narrative—the brain gain— a demographic that is moving back into rural communities. Ben works in the Department of Community Development at the University of Minnesota Extension and he’s fascinated by all things rural.

Across vast stretches of rural America and particularly in the West, emergency care—or even basic routine healthcare—can be hard to come by. People drive hours for eye exams, to give birth, have their teeth cleaned, or get therapy. Robert Duehmig, director for the Oregon Office of Rural Health, works towards solutions that fit rural and remote communities in Oregon. He discusses what’s working, what needs work, and how philanthropy can support healthcare in these communities.

The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon in Medford, which operates a dynamic museum and expansive preschool program, is a beacon of connection for children and families. They are scaling up their museum and preschool operations and expanding to another rural Southern Oregon community. Executive director Sunny Spicer speaks to the value of these ‘third spaces’ in a community, places curating connections like schools, museums, and libraries, and how philanthropy can best support them.

Bobbie Conner is a cultural leader and enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). For nearly 30 years, she has been the director of the Tamaslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Reservation in Eastern Oregon. She works to preserve the languages and rich cultural heritage of the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Nez Perce and other Indigenous nations from this region of the west. She offers funders insights into funding Native American causes and projects—spoiler alert—casino income isn’t making these tribes wealthy.

When we talk about pathways to success for young people in rural and Indigenous communities, what does that look like? Dreama Gentry of Partners for Rural Impact shares that it can look many different ways. Dreama grew up in Appalachian Kentucky and has had a long career working with young people. Today, her organization works to empower and uplift young people across several regions of the US.

The Smithsonian Institution has a long history as an iconic museum and hub of research, knowledge, and history in our Nation’s Capital and beyond. Nowadays, the Smithsonian has grown to encompass 21 museums, 40 research centers and the National Zoo. It’s the world’s largest education and research community - and now they are working with communities across the country, collaborating with rural America, and giving back.  Andy Mink is their first director of rural initiatives and he joins the show to share his vision of showcasing storytelling, belonging insecurity, and mutual respect.

There are food deserts and childcare deserts throughout America—places where services are few and far between and in much of rural America, there are similar gaps with philanthropy. With so few philanthropic organizations based in rural parts of the country the geographic responsibility for each organization can be vast. Gina Zittola of Humboldt Area Foundation and the Wild Rivers Community Foundation knows this space well. Her regional footprint stretches broad areas of rural southern Oregon into northern California. She’s a natural networker, a connector, who has done amazing things by bringing non-rural philanthropic organizations into the places she cares about, and helps them see the great things that can happen when they expand their horizons.

In recent decades, we’ve seen a steep drop off of young people going into the trades, but that trend has started to reverse. Lee Kounovsky has played a big role in steering young people in Oregon toward meaningful and lucrative careers in tradework - from construction to electrical work and beyond. He is the Lane County Construction Trades Specialist, working with students at the community college, high school and middle school levels. After the devastating wildfires of 2020, he inspired students—who had lost everything—to rebuild for others through a program called Sheds of Hope. That program has grown into a statewide initiative called Constructing a Brighter Future, impacting close to 4,000 students last year.  These types of programs illuminate the need to reduce barriers to career technical education — for as Lee points out, these students are learning more than job readiness.