Together, we thought about a new kind of process that celebrates and includes the people it is for.
We thought about our heritage and homesteading skills, the natural beauty of Appalachia, good food, and resistance to disenfranchisement and an extraction economy.
We included artists, creatives, elders, and youth doing great work in our communities. Through music, storytelling, social change activism and inclusion, and multi-generational exchanges, we created a set of strategies that attend to the real lives of the people who reside in and cherish Appalachia.
These strategies will continue to adapt, accounting for the need to organize across state borders and to access capital to do the work with the people rooted in community. Our work is dependent on relationships of solidarity, reciprocity, and democratic governance.
Our 5 strategies are…
Developing cross-region networking.
Giving direct support to artists & communities.
Using arts & culture to heal & restore.
Reviving & developing infrastructure.
Shifting narratives about Appalachians.
Who is involved in the process and how?
Philanthropic Collaborators
Foundations, funders, philanthropic organizations large and small, as well as other partners and co-conspirators.
New
Giftees
First point of entry for new assembly members to our community. After their gift period is over, they can elect to join the Co-op and future AppalCore service.
The
Appalcore
Oversees the work of governing the fund with the help, leadership, and guidance of paid staff. They serve as thought partners and heavy lifters.
Assembly Cooperative
Members have a vote and can stay on as long as they live in and/or are engaged with work in the region.
How We Fund
We are radical grantmakers and don’t operate like traditional philanthropy. We reach the places and people grantmaking doesn’t often reach. We do this through an intentional nominations process to ensure that the well- established organizations and artists already getting foundation support don’t overshadow others. We ask grassroots organizers and artists to tell us who is missing at the table. We want to hear about the people who don’t get funding, and especially those who don’t even know that funding is available for their work. We then make the application process as easy and accessible as possible.