Community Collaborators

Local Leadership. National Impact.

We’re inviting rural governments, nonprofits, and community organizations ready to help tackle real-world challenges – in areas like health, connectivity, education, and infrastructure. 

Join a National Community Cohort

Selected communities will join a cohort of peers across the country to pilot new technologies designed for rural realities. You’ll get support, visibility, and a chance to shape solutions from the ground up. 

The solutions you help test don’t just benefit your community. They become scalable tools other rural places can adopt, amplifying your local leadership across the country. 

Upcoming >

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  • "This pilot gave us the opportunity to implement the missing piece of the puzzle...but also the connections made between the organizations, the collaboration we had with AscendRural, and with the region to work better together and move the needle forward"

    Sarah Smith, Smiles for Jake, Youth Resilience Pilots

Bring innovation home

Rural communities play a critical role in shaping and testing new ideas. The AscendRural Community Cohort is a select group of communities that will explore, test, and adopt solutions that strengthen rural senior care. 

As a cohort partner, your community will gain: 

  • A pathway to participate in real, funded pilots with vetted technologies  

  • A meaningful voice in shaping the direction of national technology sourcing  

  • Tools, templates, and frameworks designed specifically for innovating in rural contexts  

  • A peer network of organizations facing similar challenges and opportunities   

FAQs for community partners

  • Eligible organizations must:

    • Be a non-profit or government agency

    • Actively serve the defined population in a rural region in the United States

    • Have problems that they’re seeking to solve connected to one or more of the cohort's focus areas

    • Be open to exploring new tools, approaches, and technologies

    • Have team members who can commit a small but consistent amount of time

    • Have the desire and ability to adopt and pay for solutions that show clear value

  • No, participation in a Community Cohort is free. AscendRural covers:

    • Program facilitation

    • National technology sourcing

    • Access to tools, templates, and learning materials

    • Evaluation support

    • Initial technology costs, implementation support, and measurement for selected pilots

    If a pilot demonstrates clear value and you would like to continue, your organization would assume ongoing costs to sustain it.

  • Not automatically, but the primary goal of the cohort is to create strong, sustainable matches between rural organizations and high-potential technologies. When a strong match emerges, our intent is for it to lead to a pilot.

    Participation in the cohort gives organizations:

    • A direct pathway into pilot opportunities

    • Early exposure to promising solutions

    • A meaningful role in shaping which technologies are sourced and evaluated to solve an organization’s greatest needs

    While a pilot cannot be guaranteed for every participant, the cohort is designed to maximize the likelihood of strong matches that lead to successful, sustainable pilots.

  • AscendRural provides:

    • Facilitation of all cohort activities

    • Expert guidance on problem discovery

    • National technology sourcing

    • Evaluation and innovation frameworks

    • Access to experts and mentors

    • Pilot design and implementation coaching

    • Potential pilot facilitation and measurement

    • Opportunities to share learnings nationally

  • Depending on fit, organizations may:

    • Be matched with technologies for a facilitated pilot

    • Enter the pilot readiness queue for future opportunities

    • Continue learning through AscendRural networks

    • Connect with tech partners for direct conversations

    • Receive updates on future cohorts

    Even if you don’t find a strong fit for a pilot, your participation positions you strongly for future pilot opportunities.

  • The cohort is hosted on the AscendRural collaboration platform (Mighty Networks) and supported through:

    • Live virtual collaboration workshops

    • Asynchronous activities

    • Peer connection spaces

    • Pilot readiness tools + templates

Stay Connected

Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for updates on upcoming community cohorts.