Who We Are

Mission-Driven Management Consultants

Our team is grounded, informed, and inspired by their lived experiences in Central Appalachia. We are nationally recognized as a social enterprise working to advance the economic transition of Central Appalachia, grow new business models, and innovate rural development. Get to know us.

Mission

Rural Support Partners is a mission-driven management consulting firm working to deepen the impact of community economic development efforts and innovate the field of rural development. We offer services to rural-focused organizations, social enterprise businesses, foundations, and networks across the United States and internationally while doing deep mission-based work in Central Appalachia.

Values

Our mission-driven management consulting firm is founded on a commitment to inclusive participation and aims to have the plans, actions, and results emerge from the vision and goals of the people with whom we work. The following values are at the core of everything we do:

WE BELIEVE IN PEOPLE.

Our work is founded on the rock-solid belief that the people we work with have the skills, wisdom, vision, and capacity to solve complex problems, create effective solutions, and create transformative change. Our job is to pull out that wisdom, bring about collective analysis, help create action plans, and reflective practices. The consistent use of the Popular Education Spiral keeps us grounded in this value.

EQUITY AND JUSTICE DRIVE OUR VISION.

We strive to uncover, speak-to, and address the multiple oppressions that undermine the beauty, health, and well-being of all people and communities.

PARTNERSHIPS STRENGTHEN OUR WORK.

We work to build long-standing and equal-power partnerships with our clients—creating the trust and mutually supportive relationship needed to do difficult and messy work together.

RESULTS SPEAK VOLUMES.

Our results-based approach means that we start with the end in mind to ensure our work and the work of our clients are focused on clear outcomes. This approach leads to a more efficient use of resources, and ultimately a greater return on everyone’s investment of time, energy, and money.

LONG-TERM EFFORTS LEAD TO LONG-TERM SUCCESSES.

We honor and learn from the work before us while working to strengthen and sustain the change infrastructure that will continue the work over long after us. We believe in opening doors and supporting young leaders to ensure that the work of creating more just and equitable rural communities endures over the long haul.

Learn more about our approach.

Mission Driven Management, Strategy and Collaboration Services

Rural Support Partners works hand-in-hand with leaders, organizations, and networks to strengthen the local economy, improve the health, and enhance the general well-being of rural communities across Central Appalachia. We provide a variety of support services to help strengthen the capacity of leaders, organizations, and networks to achieve better results. Our services are based on a strong commitment to rural communities, and result in increased organizational effectiveness, improved strategies, more collaborative efforts, and deeper impact. Rural Support Partners is a social enterprise that uses business disciplines and the power of market demand to create social, economic, and environmental impacts for a community or region.

Our Clients

We partner with funders, nonprofit anchor organizations, financial institutions, and businesses inside and outside the Central Appalachian region to achieve their objectives with a deeper impact and broader scale.

Rural Support Partners' Clients

ACEnet

Alabama Sustainable Ag Network

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Appalachia Funders Network

Appalachian Citizens Law Center

Appalachian Community Capital

Appalachian Food Summit

Appalachian Regional Commission

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project

Appalachian Sustainable Development

ArtPlace America