Rural Matters

In the first installment of our six-part series produced in collaboration with and underwritten by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle chats with Kirstin Yeado, a program officer at Ascendium responsible for strategic grantmaking in support of Ascendium's Rural Education and Workforce Training program.: Shanell Watson, a program officer with the  Woodward Hines Education Foundation , a foundat...

Michelle chats about the incredibly important topic of heart health in Rural America with Dr. Jessica Barnes , co-founder and CEO of 20Lighter, LLC, an award-winning cardiometabolic health program targeting inflammation and visceral fat, the holy grail of cardiovascular and metabolic disease; and Irion "Chip" Pursell, M.P.H., R.N., B.S.N., the director of cardiology research at UAMS in Little Rock...

In Part I of our six-part series, Living in Rural America — 2022 and Beyond, produced in collaboration with and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Michelle discusses myths and realities of the rural experience today with four experts in this space: John Pender, a s enior economist in the Rural Economy Branch of the USDA Economic Research Service; Mark Partridge , Swank Chair of Rural...

In the first Rural Matters Bonus Brief of 2022, Michelle and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves come together again to discuss how rural America is struggling to keep up with inflation and supply chain issues. They begin their conversation discussing how the pandemic has affected global supply chains. "...for the last two years, we have been in this global pandemic. That has had a major impac...

In Part VIII, the final segment of this fabulous series we're producing in collaboration with and supported by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle chats with Nicholas Hillman, professor in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hillman's research examines how finance, policy, and geography shape educational opportunities in the United States. Hillman discusses the goal...

In the final part of our four-part series on rural funding, produced in collaboration with and supported by Thomas USAF, Michelle chats with Thomas Kimsey, President and CEO of Thomas USAF Group, who manages more than $100 Million annually in loan production. Michelle also welcomes Dr. Karama Neal, who is the USDA Administrator for the Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Prior to her time at the U...

In this special episode of Rural Matters, Michelle chats with Brian Alexander, author of the powerful best-selling book, " The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town ."  During the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) annual meeting on October 13, 2021, Michelle and Brian were featured speakers for a session they called, "Candid Conversations."  Duri...

In Part VII of our landmark series on rural higher education and workforce development, produced in collaboration with the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle explores a key issue for rural communities — building transfer and career pathways for rural learners with two experts in the field: Dr. Erica Orians and Dr. Lia Wetzstein. Orians is Executive Director of the Michigan Center for Student Succ...

In Part VI of this landmark series produced in collaboration with and supported by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle discusses the challenges and opportunities involved in postsecondary partnerships in rural America with three recognized experts in the field: Dr. Sheila Martin, Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement at the Association of Public and Land-grant Univer...

In Part III of our four-part series on rural funding, produced in collaboration with and supported by Thomas USAF, Michelle chats with ChadParker, who has worked with USDA Rural Development for 30 years and is currently serving as the Acting Rural Housing Service Administrator, overseeing all Rural Housing Service's programs including the Community Facilities Program. She also speaks with Thomas K...

In Part V of our landmark series on rural higher education and workforce development, produced in collaboration with and supported by the Asscendium Education Group, Michelle chats with Danielle Vetter, Senior Program Officer and Kirstin Yeado, Program Officer, at Ascendium Education Group, both supporting partnerships focused on rural education and workforce training; Emily Cole, a higher educati...

Synopsis; In the concluding segment of our four-part  series, Viewing Rural Health, Education, and Business Through an Equity Lens. produced in collaboration with and supported by Grantmakers In Health. Michelle chats with four riveting guests: Ann McMillan, Program Director at Grantmakers In Health (GIH), responsible for access and quality programs; Allen Smart, national spokesperson and advocate...

In Part III of our groundbreaking fabulous four-part series on Viewing Rural Health, Education, and Business Through an Equity Lens, produced in collaboration with Grantmakers in Health, Michelle chats with Kim Davis, Senior Advisor (Home Region Team) at the Walton Family Foundation; Shao-Chee Sim, Episcopal Health Foundation's Vice President for Research, Innovation and Evaluation; Adam Linker, d...

In the second of our fabulous four-part series on Viewing Rural Health, Education, and Business Through an Equity Lens. produced in collaboration with and supported by Grantmakers in Health, Michelle talks with  Heather Dimeris. the Director for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT), in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human...

Michelle chats with Mike Shimmens, Executive Director for 3RNET, the nation's most trusted resource for health professionals in rural and underserved communities, about an increasingly important topic in rural communities: assisting health care professionals to find jobs and careers and helping health care employers to find qualified workers.  In the last four months, Shimmens says, 3RNET is seein...

In another special Rural Matters Bonus Brief, Michelle meets with White House Senior Policy Adviser for COVID-19 Equity Dr. Cameron Webb to discuss how COVID-19 and the Delta variant continues to challenge rural America.  "We've got so many states now with surges and cases, and it tends to track pretty closely to the vaccine rates in states... It is because this Delta variant is really less forgiv...

In the first of our four-part series, Viewing Rural Health, Education, and Business Through an Equity Lens, produced in collaboration with and supported by Grantmakers In Health, chats with an excellent group of practitioners and experts: William Buster , Senior Vice President for Impact at Dogwood Health Trust in Asheville, NC, oversees the foundation's grantmaking and program-related investments...

In Part IV of our landmark eight-part series on rural higher education and workforce development, produced in collaboration with and underwritten by the Ascendium Education Group, Michelle chats with an intriguing panel immersed in issues involving the digital rural economy, including Sarah Cacicio, Senior Project Director of Adult Learning at Digital Promise; Cindy Lopez,  Executive Director of N...

This seven-minute Rural Matters Bonus Brief brings Michelle and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack together again for a discussion on how the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed on August 10th in the U.S. Senate will benefit rural communities. "For rural America, this is a very important day. Expanded access to broadband, improved infrastructure, transportation infrastructure...

Rural Matters Bonus Brief brings Michelle and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves together for an in-depth, 20-minute discussion on how the U.S. Economic Development Administration's American Rescue Plan programs can help rural communities and regions "Build Back Better."  Michelle and Deputy Secretary Graves connect over their shared rural roots and passionate understanding of the unique chal...

Michelle chats with Dr. Andrew Koricich, associate professor of higher education at Appalachian State University and Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC's) executive director; Dr. Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and ARRC's director of communications; and Dr. Alisa Hicklin Fryar, professor of political science at the...

In this 100th episode of Rural Matters and the final installment of our four-part series spotlighting rural hospitals, produced in collaboration with and sponsored by the Center for Optimizing Rural Health (CORH). Michelle chats with Pamela Tillman, Hospital Administrator for LifeBrite Community Hospital of Stokes in rural North Carolina, and Dr. Nancy Dickey, CORH's Executive Director. CORH selec...

Michelle talks with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland about President Biden's "Build Back Better Plan," the nation's worsening climate crisis and how it impacts national security.

In Part III of this eight-part series on rural higher education and workforce development, produced in collaboration with and underwritten by Ascendium Education Group, Michelle chats with John Fitzsimmons, president of The Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges; David Daigler.  president of the Maine Community College System; Justin Archer Burch., national director of Workforce Development at...

In this episode, Michelle talks with Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor and former EPA Administrator, about the Biden Administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework.