GSP 2025 Convening: Rural South, Powered Up
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. We are excited to announce our 2025 Convening in Little Rock, Arkansas the week of October 14-16. Our theme is 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.
We invite you to join us. 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 and visit our website: g4sp.org/2025Convening
We hope to see you there!