Policy Approach
Rural areas are hotbeds of innovation, creativity and natural and human capital. Yet federal and state policy commonly overlooks rural areas, proclaims agricultural policy as rural policy, and treats poverty as intractable. This political context significantly impacts the success of the many rural poverty alleviation efforts taking place across the country.
NRFC works with policymakers to inform the political context surrounding our work in rural transformation. We do this by directly exposing public officials to the innovative work of our regional partners, using their experience to highlight opportunities for more thoughtful, holistic, inclusive and equitable policy.
NRFC is entrepreneurial, capitalizing on strategic opportunities. Its policy strategy, then, is based on building opportunities for influence, while increasing the ability of member collaboratives to respond to policy opportunities as they arise. This strategy is built on:
- Capacity-building
NRFC helps our regional partners develop policy plans in line with overall planning and performance measurement. We work with them to identify and pull in skills, relationships, and resources to advance policy initiatives supporting their theory of change.
- National and Multi-state Policy
The wide array of regional not-for-profits, philanthropies and strategic allies that make up NRFC share a common goal of transforming rural communities of persistent poverty. We hope to add to the public debate opportunities to further develop rural America’s potential, in relation to the issues Americans are most talking about.
- Engagement of Public Officials
Critical to all our policy initiatives is the front and center role of community development practitioners. NRFC regularly interacts with mid- and senior-level employees and appointees in the federal government and with national associations of state and local government officials. These relationships are cultivated through joint learning activities and shared projects. We believe this exposure to innovative practitioners in the field will have an impact on public policy in the long-term.
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