Three words – “Community Benefit Agreements” – pop up in almost every conversation I have about energy, the state of our economy, and the future of rural power. And I don’t just hear about them from the experts. My uncle’s high school bestie, a lady I sat next to on a plane, and my neighbors are all talking about community benefit agreements and how to use them if – and I mean if – a town or county decides to work with a data center.
Most people know community benefit agreements are a way to strike a fair deal with big companies that want local access to energy, water, land, and labor and are willing to make real, long-term investments in a shared prosperity in return. Fewer people know how to negotiate them or understand their full worth.
That’s where our speakers at the Roadshow come in.
We’re grateful to be welcoming some of the leading practitioners developing community benefit agreements, working alongside local leaders at the forefront of negotiations. From Ryan Hathaway of Lawyers for Good Government and Michelle Roos of Environmental Protection Network, who’ll teach us how to leverage the permitting and approval process, to Devashree Saha of World Resources Institute, who’ll share their approach to building agreements that last – you will leave the Roadshow informed and equipped with new colleagues who can help.
See you at the Roadshow,
Michelle Moore
Chief Executive Officer, Groundswell
COMMUNITY BENEFIT AGREEMENTS
Know Your Worth: Breakout Sessions Highlights
Rural Organizing Strategies for Self-Determination in Data Center Development
This session will share lessons from Resource Rural’s national network of grassroots groups organizing around data center development in rural and politically conservative regions, strengthened by the insights from Inner Works Communities, a Southwest Georgia-based organization working at the intersection of civic engagement, environmental justice, education, and community development. Panelists will highlight emerging campaign strategies, including how groups are building a base around highly technical issues, translating complex energy and water impacts into community-driven demands, and leveraging local governance processes to secure meaningful victories, transparency, and accountability. The panel will also explore the role of technical assistance partnerships in strengthening organizing and the key challenges that consistently emerge in these campaigns. Attendees will leave with concrete examples and case studies to apply to their own communities.
Emma Bouton
Advocacy and Organizing Director, Resource Rural
Emma Bouton leads advocacy and organizing at Resource Rural, supporting rural communities as they shape decisions affecting local economies, infrastructure, energy, and the environment. Her experience includes community organizing, electoral campaigns, and state coalition work advancing clean energy, housing, and workforce development.
Alexis Parker
Founder, Inner Works Communities
Alexis Parker is a community organizer, strategist, and founder of Inner Works Communities in Southwest Georgia. Her work connects civic engagement, environmental justice, education, and community development, creating accessible opportunities for residents to build knowledge, develop local leadership, and shape decisions affecting their communities.
Community Benefits that Matter: Designing Agreements for Long-term Value
This panel will examine strategies and best practices for rural communities to negotiate high-impact community benefits agreements with data center developers. Discussion will focus on strategies for engaging key stakeholders, advancing intentional economic development, and improving accountability frameworks. Panelists will also explore approaches to developing meaningful goals and strategies grounded in technical analysis and real-world constraints, and ensuring community priorities are reflected in development agreements.
Devashree Saha
U.S. Clean Energy Economy Program Director, World Resources Institute
Devashree Saha leads WRI’s U.S. Clean Energy Economy Program, advancing inclusive approaches to clean energy, jobs, skills, and economic development. Her career has spanned energy and environmental policy roles with the Council of State Governments, Brookings Institution, and National Governors Association.
Jenny Carney
Senior Vice President, WSP
Jenny Carney is a sustainability leader with more than 20 years of experience in the built environment. At WSP, she helps organizations improve building performance, engage stakeholders, and develop practical sustainability strategies. Her background spans green building, environmental outreach, ecology and climate research, renewable energy procurement, and the development of sustainability best practice standards.
The Permit Matrix: How Communities Can Use the Approval Process to Make Data Centers Work for Them
A wave of data center development is arriving in rural America with a speed and scale that local governments, tribes, and community organizations are rarely prepared to meet. Developers arrive with sophisticated legal teams, pre-negotiated incentive packages, and an urgency that compresses the window for meaningful community input. What communities often don’t know is that the approval process itself — across environmental permitting, land use, utility regulation, and federal review — contains real leverage points. Used proactively, these processes can secure enforceable commitments on jobs, infrastructure, clean energy, water use, and community benefits that persist long after a project breaks ground.
This session introduces a practical framework, the Data Center Permit Matrix, that maps every major approval a data center project typically requires, what each process covers, who makes decisions, and where communities have meaningful standing to shape outcomes.
Michelle Roos
Executive Director, Environmental Protection Network
Michelle Roos is Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Network and brings more than 25 years of experience in project management, grassroots organizing, and environmental protection. She helped launch EPN’s capacity-building pro bono technical assistance program, which has provided 1:1 assistance to over 3000 under-resourced community groups; nonprofit organizations; and state, local, tribal government agencies.
Olivia Smith
Technical Assistance Manager, Environmental Protection Network
Olivia Smith manages technical assistance for EPN’s Region 5 program and helps lead the organization’s national data center work. She connects communities across the Great Lakes and Midwest with EPA alumni and environmental justice partners to advance community-defined goals and previously held technical assistance roles focused on food systems and climate resilience.
Ryan Hathaway
Director of Climate and Environmental Justice, Lawyers for Good Government
Ryan Hathaway leads climate and environmental justice work at Lawyers for Good Government. He brings more than 15 years of federal experience spanning environmental justice, infrastructure permitting, NEPA, land-use planning, and environmental policy, including leadership roles at the White House Council on Environmental Quality and U.S. Department of the Interior.
One More Month To Book!
Reserve accommodations through the official Roadshow hotel block by October 8th for our guaranteed rate.
DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront
Special conference rate:
$130 per night
Register Today
Five Breakout Tracks.
Four interconnected themes.
Twenty community-focused conversations.
One defining moment for the future of rural communities.
November 4–6, 2026
Decatur, Alabama