National Associations, Organizations and Centers

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE UNIVERSITIES AND LAND-GRANT COLLEGES

THE ASPEN INSTITUTE-an international nonprofit educational institution dedicated to enhancing the quality of leadership through informed dialogue. It convenes people who represent diverse viewpoints and backgrounds from business, labor, government, the professions, the arts, and the nonprofit sector to relate timeless ideas and values to the foremost challenges facing societies, organizations,and individuals.

• POLICY PROGRAMS-fosters collaborative learning, leadership and innovation to advance rural community and economic development in the U.S. REPP works with rural decisionmakers to speed the adoption of initiatives that will sustain rural progress.
• RURAL UPDATE NEWSLETTER-innovations, news, happenings, and resources for small town and rural community economic development. Items are collected and summarized from the Internet, organizational newsletters, and the media. The Update is free and is delivered via e-mail to hundreds of organizations.

ASSOCIATION OF 1890 EXTENSION ADMINISTRATORS

ASSOCIATION OF 1890 RESEARCH DIRECTORS

CENET-an electronic information interchange, specifically targeted for the design and construction industries. Unlike other web portals that try to provide information on the entire industry, CENET has been developed to focus exclusively on innovative processes and technologies within the industry.

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RURAL AMERICA, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY-the mission of the center is to track the farm and rural economies and to provide objective analysis of economic and policy issues key to rural America's future.

CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND-the mission is to help all children in several areas through caring families and communities. It provides voice for the children of America, with special attention to poor and minority children and those with disabilities.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY-a professional association where research and practice join to build community. It represents the fields of education, health care, social services, government, utilities, economic development practitioners, citizen groups, and more.

FARM FOUNDATION-established to improve the well-being of US agriculture and rural people. Its vision is to be widely recognized as a catalyst to increase the productivity and competitiveness of US agriculture and improve the quality of life for rural people.

HEARTLAND CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT-an independent nonprofit organization developing local leadership that responds to the challenges of the future. Its major focus is practical resources and public policies for rural community survival.

• W.K. KELLOGG COLLECTION OF RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES-a collection that contains high quality rural community development materials funded by the Kellogg Foundation and other selected sponsors of recognized rural programs. A major benefit of this collection is having a central repository for such materials to discourage new programs from spending time and money to develop resource materials that may already exist.

HUDSON INSTITUTE-an international recognized public policy research organization that forecasts trends and develops solutions for governments, businesses, and the public.

THE MANAGING INFORMATION IN RURAL AMERICA (MIRA) INITIATIVE - MIRA is designed to build on the strengths, tenacity, commitment and creativity of rural communities in choosing appropriate uses of technology. It facilitates this by providing grants to community teams comprised of rural residents, community organizations, and/or rural policy and education organizations to enhance social and economic community development activities. The initiative operates on the premise: People first; technology serving communities second.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES-created to make sure counties have a strong voice in Washington. It is involved in a number of special projects that deal with such issues as the environment, sustainable communities, volunteerism and intergeneration studies.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS (NADO)-provides training, information and representation for regional development organizations in small metropolitan and rural America. It is the largest and leading advocate for a regional approach to community, economic, and rural development.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE UNIVERSITIES AND LAND GRANT COLLEGES (NASULGC)-its mission is to support high-quality public higher education and its member institutions as they perform their traditional teaching, research and public service roles.

• COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, EXTENSION, AND TEACHING (CARET)-a national grassroots organization created by the division of agriculture. Its mission is to enhance national support and understanding of the land-grant university system's food and agricultural research, extension and teaching programs in order to achieve a better standard of living for all people.
• EXPERIMENT STATION COMMITTEE ON ORGANIZATION AND POLICY (ESCOP)-the executive or operating body of the Experiment Station Section (ESS), Board on Agriculture (BOA) - NASULGC, and handles continuing business, organization, and policy issues on behalf of the state agricultural experiment station directors.
• EXTENSION COMMITTEE ON ORGANIZATION AND POLICY (ECOP)-an elected committee which represents the 57 state and territorial cooperative extension systems in policy decisions and provides nationwide program and organizational leadership.
• STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL (SPC)

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS-its purpose is to strengthen the effectiveness of town and township government. It does so by educating lawmakers and public policy officials about how small town governments operate.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES-its mission is to provide small town decision makers with the tools to govern effectively and the skills to expand local economies, protect natural resources and preserve community character.

NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS AND STATE RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCILS-works to strengthen rural America through collaborative partnerships. The NRDP brings together partners from local, state, tribal, and federal governments, as well as from the for-profit and nonprofit private sector.

RURAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE ALLIANCE (RCCA)-an alliance of rural community colleges working to improve educational and economic prospects for their communities; a network for peer learning through conferences, campus/community visits, and technical assistance; a national voice for America’s rural community colleges and the communities they serve.

RURAL PEOPLE, RURAL POLICY - Rural People, Rural Policy is a part of the W.K Kellogg Foundation. Its purpose is to improve the lives of rural people by building the capacity of rural networks and the organizations that serve those living in rural communities, and to raise the awareness of rural policy at local, state, regional, and federal levels, and mobilize like- minded rural constituency groups to have an impact on rural policy at the local, state, and national level.

RURAL POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (RUPRI)-conducts policy-relevant research and facilitates public dialogue to assist policymakers in understanding the rural impacts of public policies and programs.

THE RURAL SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY TRUST-a national nonprofit organization rooted in rural America. Their mission is to help rural schools and communities get better together by working with a network of schools and community groups striving to improve the quality of education and community life and to improve state education policies.

RURAL SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY-founded in order to promote the development of rural sociology through teaching, research and extension.

URBAN INSTITUTE-nonprofit policy research organization established in DC in 1968. The institute goals are to sharpen thinking about society's problems and efforts to solve them, improve government decisions and their implementation, and increase citizens' awareness about important public choices.

• ASSESSING THE NEW FEDERALISM-multi-year Urban Institute research project to analyze the devolution of responsibility for social programs from the federal government to the states, focusing primarily on health care, income security, job training, and social services.

WELFARE INFORMATION NETWORK-a clearinghouse for information, policy analysis and technical assistance on welfare reform.

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