rural renaissance roadshow

About

 

The Rural Renaissance Roadshow brings together rural leaders from across the US and equips them to build thriving local clean energy futures through inspiration, education, partnerships, and practical technical and funding support.

The Organizer

Groundswell is a 501c3 nonprofit that builds community power through equitable community solar projects and resilience centers, clean energy programs that reduce energy burdens, and pioneering research initiatives that help light the way to clean energy futures for all. Groundswell leads clean energy programs and projects in five states including the District of Columbia, serving more than 6,000 income-qualified customers with more than $8 million in clean energy savings to date.

Learn More

Click here for information about the 2024 Program and Registration

Partners

Beneficial Electrification League

Our partners from the Beneficial Electrification League will be leading a workshop discussing opportunities around further electrification of the economy.

BEL is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2018 with a mission to increase understanding of how beneficial electrification can save consumers money, improve air quality and lower emissions, foster a more robust and resilient grid, and improve quality of life.

The Rural Climate Partnership

Our partners at the Rural Climate Partners will be leading a workshop on bringing in private capital providers and foundations to outline how to leverage varying pre-development funds and financing to advance a project to prepare for broader implementation dollars.

The Rural Climate Partnership is a new funding collaborative built to address a straightforward reality: We need change in rural America to achieve an ambitious climate agenda, meet emissions-reduction targets, and authentically foster equity and environmental justice. Our theory of change centers hardworking people, small businesses, and family farmers as the drivers of local economies and rural-led climate solutions. Utilizing a place-based, sustainable job, and economic development strategy, we empower communities to protect what they love about where they live. With a focus on clean energy, regenerative agriculture, narrative transformation, and securing federal funding for rural communities, we work towards accelerating clean energy deployment, expanding climate-smart farming practices, combating misinformation, and ensuring rural areas benefit from federal climate dollars. Through grantmaking, technical assistance, policy advocacy, and narrative infrastructure, we work to reduce energy costs for families, empower small businesses, and provide opportunities for rural communities to thrive sustainably.

ruralclimatepartnership

Sol Systems

Sol Systems is a leading national solar energy firm with an established reputation for integrity and reliability across its development, infrastructure, and environmental commodity businesses. Sol Systems is operating and building over 2 GW of solar projects valued at more than $2 billion for Fortune 100 companies, municipalities, counties, utilities, universities, and schools and provides environmental commodity portfolio management services to more than 20,000 customers across the US. The company was founded in 2008, is based in Washington, D.C., and is led by its founder. Sol Systems works with institutional clients, corporate partners, and foundations to create a more sustainable future we can all believe in.

Join us as a Partner

Supporters

Each $2000 contribution provides a full scholarship including travel and accommodations for a rural leader representing a community with a population of less than 50,000.

Rural Renaissance

Revitalizing America's Hometowns through Clean Power

By L. Michelle Moore

Michelle Moore is author of “Rural Renaissance” and CEO of Groundswell, a 501(c)(3) that builds community power by eliminating energy burdens and increasing economic opportunity with community solar, resilience centers, residential energy efficiency, and pioneering research. A social entrepreneur and former White House official with roots in rural Georgia, Michelle is a relentless agent for change. Her accomplishments range from cutting the government’s energy bill by $11 billion and deploying 3.2 Gigawatts of new renewable energy for President Obama, to developing LEED into a globally recognized brand for USGBC. Michelle also serves as Secretary of the Board for the Interdenominational Theological Center. Her work is rooted in her faith and the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself".

Program Structure

What you can expect at the Rural Renaissance Roadshows

Program Tracks

Renewable & Resilient Rural Power

  • The Power of Community
  • Engaging and Involving Local Communities
  • Community-Centered Resilience
  • Energy Efficiency for Rural Housing Equity

Regenerative Agriculture

  • Building Community Power Through Faith-Driven Action
  • Liberation Through Regenerative Agriculture
  • Regenerative Agriculture to Feed the People
  • A Manufacturing Renaissance

Jobs Are Justice

  • Empowering Careers: Investing in Our People
  • Training and Apprenticeships: Energy, Efficiency, and the Craft Trades
  • Opportunities with Utilities
  • Unlocking Opportunity: Pathways to Clean Energy Entrepreneurship

Utilizing Green Banks / Financing

  • What is a Green Bank?
  • Financing for Community Ownership
  • Panel: Meet the New Green Banks
  • Philanthropic Investing in the Rural Southeast

Special Thanks

We wanted to provide a special thanks to designer Summer Wood for her graphic designs.