GSP’s Convening brings together funders and grassroots movement leaders to discuss strategies, generate solutions, and move resources to the Southern communities that need them most. We center the wisdom and expertise of Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks in philanthropy and Southern movement and community-based organizations driving change. Every two years, our network gathers in a community where grassroots leadership is actively working to advance progress in the South. We convene with one another because we believe philanthropy has a responsibility to show up for the South and the incredible people who live here. This year, our theme is RURAL SOUTH, POWERED UP.

About Rural South, Powered Up 

Although most of the funding in the South is funneled into urban areas, rural organizers continue to produce some of the most dynamic strategies in the region with the fewest resources backing their work. Rural communities represent the scale at which change can happen. It is time for philanthropy to partner with community to shift rural scarcity into Southern prosperity.  

We’re excited about Arkansas. Arkansas mirrors the South in many ways. According to U.S. Census Data, only 20% of people in the U.S. live in rural areas, compared to 44% of people in Arkansas, and 46% in the South overall.  Rural areas often get written off as predominantly white and morally backward, which not only erases the communities of color who define and shape the South for the better, but also ignores the stronghold structural racism and extractive policies have on the region. Broad-brushing rural communities leads to a disproportionate lack of philanthropic investment and creates a stronghold for extremist politics and voter suppression. Yet, rural communities often set the tone for the rest of the country on issues of justice and understanding relationships as a form of infrastructure. Rural movement organizers are working on a wide range of initiatives to meet the needs of their communities, including increased labor rights for immigrant workers, medicaid expansion and community healthcare access, and calling for environmental protections as various industries continue being linked to pollution and land theft. This is true in Arkansas and across many other rural communities we will highlight during the convening.  

GSP’s Convening includes engaging sessions, local Learning Tours, cultural groundings, our annual Membership Meeting, and more. Rural South, Powered Up will focus on rural power building across key issues, including racial, economic, and climate justice, worker rights, infrastructure and access to resources, rural healthcare, and more.  Our Convening will create a space where issues impacting folks in rural communities across the region will be taken seriously, and the voices of rural organizers and funders will be heard.  

Early bird registration will open in April 2025. For the most up-to-date information, please sign up for our mailing list here.

Our 2025 Convening will be hosted in Little Rock, Arkansas from October 14-16. We hope to see you there! 

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are grateful to our sponsors for supporting Rural South, Powered Up. Contributions help cover the cost of hosting a 3-day convening, including ensuring that vendors are equitably paid and sustaining GSP’s practice of gathering funders and practitioners in community in an effort to advance structural change in the South. You make our work possible. Thank you!

If you are interested in sponsoring our Convening, please email events@g4sp.org.

COVID and Community Care

We will be updating our community care guidance soon. In the meantime, please refer to our guidance from 2023 below.

GSP recognizes that we are in a new era as the COVID-19 pandemic transitions to endemic and safety guidelines begin to shift. As an organization working to build a just and livable South, we know that we must prioritize community care in all that we do. We ask participants to do their part in helping us ensure the accessibility of this event for as many of our community members as possible, especially for folks who are immunocompromised.  

Our recommended safety guidance may increase according to COVID prevalence at the time of the Biennial Convening. GSP reserves the right to change these guidelines and will notify attendees in advance of the Convening.  

We ask that participants adhere to the following guidelines:  

  • Personal care: If attendees feel unwell or are unable to comply with our health and safety precautions, we ask that they please refrain from attending the Convening. This includes having symptoms related to COVID-19 within 48 hours prior to attending. Please notify the GSP team at info@g4sp.org if you are feeling unwell before or during the Convening, or if you test positive during the Convening or up to ten days after the Convening. 
  • Pre-Event Screening: All attendees will be asked to upload proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to CrowdPass platform. Tests must be taken within 48 hours prior to the Convening. 
  • On-Site Testing: Conduct a self-administered rapid test on site each day, starting with your arrival day. GSP will provide tests for all attendees. Continue to rapid test at least once, and as needed over the next ten days after you leave the Convening.  
  • Masking: Wear a N95, KN95, or KN94 mask covering your nose and mouth whenever indoors (including hotel common spaces like halls, elevators, and stairwells), unless actively eating or drinking. GSP will provide suitable masks for all attendees. If someone asks you to wear a mask, please do so.  
  • Social Distancing and Prevention: Refrain from physical contact without consent, including hugs and handshakes. Whenever the weather permits, we encourage attendees to spend time in well-ventilated, spacious areas or outdoors. We will provide ample breaks during our time indoors and have access to outdoor space for informal time together. Please wash your hands and use hand sanitizer frequently. 

While GSP cannot guarantee that participants will not be exposed to or contract COVID-19 or its variants, we will do our part in making the Convening as safe as possible. Thank you in advance for doing your part to make this event more accessible. We look forward to sharing space with you.  

Questions?

If you have questions related to the convening or would like to become a sponsor, reach out to events@g4sp.org

About Grantmakers for Southern Progress

Grantmakers for Southern Progress (GSP) is a membership-based network of funders and practitioners advancing structural change in the Southern United States. We work to interrupt extractive philanthropic practices and move philanthropy to partner with and fund community-based movement organizations. We envision a region of just and thriving communities, where all people have the power and resources necessary to live whole and prosperous lives. We support efforts to build a vibrant ecosystem of organizations rooted in Black, Brown, Indigenous and directly impacted communities in the South.