Building Vibrant Rural Communities

Rural Summit 2024 was highlighted by insightful presentations from national experts and hometown leaders. Tony Pipa from the Brookings Institution started us off by sharing voices from his "Reimagine Rural" podcast. Dr. Jeff Cox, president of the N.C. Community College System, outlined his plan for a new college funding model, and a panel of diverse, rural female leaders described what they've done to reach success in their communities. Thank you to those of you who joined us and we hope to see you again in March 2025.

Rural Summit 2023

The Rural Summit 2023 took place March 20-21, 2023, at the Raleigh Convention Center. The theme was Driving Policy Change: All Roads Lead to Rural. The 2023 Rural Summit brought together community leaders, policymakers, and rural advocates from across the state and nation to engage in a thoughtful, intentional dialogue about the actions we can take today to advance policy and systems change across a broad spectrum of rural development issues.

Rural Center President and CEO Patrick Woodie opened the event by introducing key influences shaping rural North Carolina that are outlined in our new report, “Forces Driving Change in Rural North Carolina.” These driving forces highlight trends in education, health, leadership, infrastructure, and recovery from the pandemic. Breakout sessions at this year’s Summit addressed top concerns in rural North Carolina, such as broadband, healthcare, housing, small business development, water and wastewater infrastructure, disaster recovery, and weather resiliency.

Rural Sumit 2023 Photos

Relive the 2022 Rural Summit

We at the NC Rural Center want to thank each and every one of you who joined us at the 2022 Rural Summit.

Each year, we think of the Rural Summit as our state’s rural homecoming, a chance for our local leaders and state partners to come together in conversation and celebration. This year was no different. We welcomed more than 400 people from all across the state for two days of education and engagement with their peers and knowledge experts from around the state and across the country.