The Groundswell Way

In this final dispatch from the 2025 Rural Renaissance Roadshow in Opelika, Alabama, The Groundswell Way closes out its on-the-ground series with a powerful conversation between host Matthew Wesley Williams and Andrew Freear, Director of Auburn University's Rural Studio. Reflecting on decades of work in Alabama's Black Belt, Freear reframes resilience as something intentionally designed over time—...

Part Two: Moving at the Speed of Trust — An Indian Country Roundtable Part Two expands the conversation with a dynamic Indian Country roundtable featuring leaders from the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, the Native American Agriculture Fund, and Groundswell. Together, the panel explores what it actually takes to build trust, move beyond transactional partnerships, and support Indigenous-led solu...

Part One: Moving at the Speed of Trust with Governor Stephen Roe Lewis (Gila River Indian Community) In Part One of Moving at the Speed of Trust , we sit down with Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community for a powerful conversation about resilience rooted in ancestry, sovereignty, and responsibility to future generations. Recorded at the 2025 Rural Renaissance Roadshow, this...

Are you passionate about rural innovation and community impact? The latest episode of The Groundswell Way podcast is a must-listen! In this episode, Tony Pipa of the Brookings Institution leads a dynamic conversation with  Al Puchala (CapZone), Kyle Bridgeforth (Bridgeforth Farms), and Chéri Smith (Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy). This group presented a keynote panel at the 2025 Rural Renaissanc...

Where Resilience Meets Legacy Westside Atlanta churches are carrying forward their civil rights legacy together, building local resilience with Groundswell and key partners. Episode 2  of The Groundswell Way spotlights resilience in a historic part of Atlanta, the Westside, particularly Southwest Atlanta. While Atlanta is known as the birthplace of the civil rights movement, Southwest Atlanta was...

Where Resilience Meets Legacy Westside Atlanta churches are carrying forward their civil rights legacy together, building local resilience with Groundswell and key partners. Episode 2  of The Groundswell Way spotlights resilience in a historic part of Atlanta, the Westside, particularly Southwest Atlanta. While Atlanta is known as the birthplace of the civil rights movement, Southwest Atlanta was...

New Podcast: The Groundswell Way We're excited to share the very first episode of The Groundswell Way podcast, hosted by Matthew Wesley Williams, SVP for Community Development at Groundswell. This new series explores what resilience really means, and how local communities are defining and building it in real time. Episode 1 , Spinning Plates in a Hurricane , takes us to West Georgia and East Alaba...

The Groundswell Way is a podcast about building community power through community development for wholistic resilience. Hosted by Matthew Wesley Williams, Senior Vice President of Community Development at Groundswell, this series dives into what resilience means, and what it really takes to build the everyday conditions that are built under blue skies and proven in storms. Each episode explores th...