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The Brushy Fork Watershed
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Inside this Issue
Quick Links:
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We hope you've made plans to join us for the 2017 Brushy Fork Annual Institute, which will be held at Berea College on September 19-21. This year's theme is The Relationship Economy and will focus on deepening connections and growing partnerships among participants.
Our staff has worked steadily to plan and streamline networking opportunities that provide opportunities for participants to share the skills and experience you bring and identify the resources you need to move your community efforts forward.
As usual, we have a full schedule this year, and we are proud of how the Institute has evolved. We will offer more than 20 sessions across the full three-day event. Program highlights appear below.
We also wish to extend a huge thank you to the early adopters of our new partnership program, who are helping underwrite the 2017 Annual Institute. These include the Appalachian Regional Commission, the City of Barbourville, the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, the Foundation for Healthy Kentucky, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, and the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED).
Please contact Troy Price, Brushy Fork Institute Associate Director, if you are also interested in becoming an event sponsor.
We also ask that you share event information and the opportunities detailed below with your network of contacts who may benefit from our skill-building sessions and scholarship programs.
Many thanks for your leadership and the important work you do in support of regional development. We look forward to welcoming you to campus! |
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OUR 2017 ANNUAL INSTITUTE SESSION LINEUP
Our last newsletter outlined the changes we have made to the Annual Institute, including creating more opportunities for participants to lead as well as learn.
The first day of the 2017 Annual Institute, September 19, features concurrent sessions provided by participants, who will share their practical experience and expertise during 90-minute interactive sessions.
September 20-21 features intensive track sessions providing deep dives into a single skill or topic. These sessions include 10 hours of professional development across two days. Our regional leadership team leading these sessions include Brushy Fork Institute staff, regional partner organizations, and consultants who bring international experience working with not-for-profit organizations and rural communities.
For easy access, we've organized all of our 2017 sessions below by presentation type.
If you need assistance with selecting a workshop session or resourcing your participation, please reach out to a member of our team. Rodney, Troy, Mark, and Beth are all available to answer any questions you may have and will help you select the session that best fits your individual, organizational, or community needs. |
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90 minute Interactive Sessions: September 19
These concurrent sessions represent the diversity of our audience and approaches to regional and rural development. We serve and partner with everyone from the grassroots to government and believe that true development and transformation requires participation from the entire region.
The following sessions cover a wide range of topics as well as a wide geography: Presenters will be attending from Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Attendees participate in up to three concurrent sessions.
Click on the session title for details about each session.
September 19 Sessions:
Many thanks to our session presenters representing the following organizations: Alliance for Appalachia, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalachian Regional Commission, Appalshop, Downstream Strategies, EntreEd, Estill Development Alliance, Hindman Settlement School, MDC, Military Veterans Resource Center (Columbus), Roadside Theater, Rural Faith Development Community Development Corporation, Stay in Clay, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
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10 Hour Intensive Sessions: September 20-21
In addition to the regional conversations held on September 19, attendees participate in intensive skill-building sessions that cover a broad range of topics important to rural communities, from leadership development to economic development strategies.
These sessions provide the training, knowledge, networking opportunities, and resource connections leaders need to act strategically and effectively.
Participants enroll in one track session, which provides 10 hours of targeted training and professional development.
Click on the workshop title for details about each session.
September 20-21 Sessions:
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On Wednesday, September 20, we will screen the documentary Journey to Recovery: Inside Opioid Addiction produced by Kentucky Educational Television (KET).
This one-hour documentary, narrated by Grammy award-winning artist Sturgill Simpson, highlights the range of treatment options available for people with a substance use disorder and lifts up stories of recovery and hope. This program includes interviews with some of the nation’s leading experts on the opioid epidemic. A guided discussion with documentary producers, Justin Allen and Laura Krueger, will follow the screening.
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HEAR FROM OUR 2016 ANNUAL INSTITUTE PARTICIPANTS
What do Annual Institute participants value most? Relationships, which are the building blocks of healthy organizations, communities, and economies. Hear how the Annual Institute provides opportunity for people to connect, discuss regional challenges, and develop creative solutions.
Click the photos below to hear from some of our 2016 participants: Brandon Dennison, Coalfield Development Corporation in West Virginia; Shequite Johnson, Delta Health Alliance Indianola Promise Community in Mississippi; and Lori Sliwa, New Opportunity School for Women in Berea, Kentucky.
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This year’s event theme is The Relationship Economy and reflects our intentional focus on helping better connect Appalachian leaders with resources and with each other. This theme also builds upon Brushy Fork Institute goals for the Annual Institute:
- To build community through creating an environment where everyone is both an expert and a learner
- To create capacity through encouraging the collaboration needed to advance regional efforts
- To make leadership accessible to all
In service to this third goal, we’re glad to announce the availability of scholarships programs sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Berea College Appalachian Fund. These resources are intended to expand access for individuals who work within economically distressed communities.
Four scholarship programs are available and include support for both individuals and teams. Program guidelines and online application forms are available at https://www.berea.edu/brushy-fork-annual-institute/scholarships/.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all available funds have been awarded.
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Sam Gleaves & Deborah Payne will provide an evening concert on September 19 featuring traditional and bluegrass-inspired music.
Sam Gleaves is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter from Wytheville, Virginia. Rooted in Appalachian traditions, Sam’s songwriting is informed by history, social issues, and contemporary rural life. Sam’s record, Ain’t We Brothers, has been featured by NPR, and Peggy Seeger called it “a stunning first album.”
Berea native Deborah Payne is known locally and afar for her fiddle playing and singing. Deborah has toured internationally with numerous bluegrass and old-time bands. She has also provided music for touring folk dance groups in Italy, Denmark, Scotland, Ireland, and England, and accompanied the Berea College Country Dancers on a tour of China in May 2017.
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