News & Events
2009 Youth Garden Grants Program
The National Gardening Association and The Home Depot announce the 2009 Youth Garden Grants Program. The National Gardening Association awards… [read more]
Urban/Rural Divide on OPB
Oregon Public Broadcasting did a story on “Think Out Loud” about the urban/rural divide in Oregon. You can listen to… [read more]
Rural American Scholarship Fund
Scholarships for higher education to students residing in rural areas of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
For more information… [read more]
welcome
RIPPLE is a place where people in rural environments can connect with the knowledge and resources of their peers.Summit in Sisters
The Summit in Sisters will bring Ford Institute Leadership Program Community Trainers from throughout Oregon and Siskiyou County, California together for the first time to learn, network, and celebrate!
This weekend in Sisters, Community Trainers are coming together to network, participate in some advanced training, learn from each other, and decide what’s next for this group of dedicated volunteers. They’ll listen to keynote speeches by Norm Smith of The Ford Family Foundation and Peter Donaldson of Salmon People. You can view their live discussion forum here.
The RIPPLE team is also in Sisters this weekend, and we’ll return with recorded success stories, publish poems written by community trainers, and give a complete rundown of what happened at the conference.
FILP Futures Program—Lake County
Now that Lake County has completed the five-year Ford Institute Leadership Program, what’s next? Chat with Tom Gallagher, and help provide direction for the Futures Program.
Click here to read and respond to Tom’s post.
Tom Gallagher: What makes a community leader?
Tom Gallagher is the director of the Ford Institute Leadership Program at The Ford Family Foundation. The Ford Institute Leadership Program works to increase community vitality by cultivating leaders in Rural communities. Read and discuss Tom’s thoughts on what makes a successful leader on our community discussion forum.
Click here to read and respond to Tom’s article.
Mike Stolte
Mike Stolte, the executive director of the Center for Innovative and Entrepenuerial Leadership (CIEL) in Nelson, British Columbia, will be presenting at the Ford Institute Leadership Program Regional Conference March 14 and 15. Stolte is an expert on assessing community vitality. He will present tools and processes for assessing community vitality, and taking strategic actions to move towards creating a vital community. Stolte will also be participating in a RIPPLE discussion forum after the conference so post your questions and comments to get his expert response.
Click here to visit the public discussion forum.
Introducing RIPPLE
RIPPLE is Rural Development Initiatives’ website. Rural Development Initiatives, Inc. (RDI) is an Oregon-based nonprofit dedicated to helping rural communities in the northwest thrive. We conceived the idea for a virtual meeting place where people in rural places could share knowledge, resources and skills with other rural people. This site is in its early stages, but we hope that RIPPLE will be that place. RIPPLE is an acronym that stands for Rural Information, Practices and Peer Learning Exchange.
Rural Information: RIPPLE will feature links to external sources like funding resources and demographic information that can aid in community development. While we’re creating this information bank, check out the Resources page on the Rural Development Initiatives website and look for interesting links in the “News and Events” section on the upper left corner of this page.
Rural Practices: RIPPLE will show off real stories of community building and community leaders in rural environments in the Pacific Northwest. While we’re developing this tool, feel free to suggest a story by clicking the “suggestions” link at the bottom of this page or tell your own story in the Rural Stories discussion forums.
Peer Learning Exchange: We are currently developing the Peer Services Exchange tool that will allow people with services and skills to offer to connect with the people and places that need them. The RIPPLE discussion forums also offer a place to share knowledge and talk with other people interested in rural issues. Our newest forums include places to discuss Fund Raising and Grant Proposals and Small-Business Plans.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
2620 River Road, Suite 205 . Eugene, Oregon 97404 . phone 541-684-9077 . fax 541-684-8993