Sarah Jaynes

Director, The Heartland Fund

“The Heartland Fund, which is supported by Ford, works with rural leaders who are improving and transforming their communities. Heartland has three program areas: Rural Democracy, Resource Rural, and the Rural Climate Partnership.

The promise of rural America lies with its people. The Rural Democracy program invests in civic engagement efforts that empower rural working people to drive the important decisions that impact their lives and communities, from securing health care to ensuring fair voting access for all people. All of the program’s grantee partners bridge across differences to make things concretely better for their rural communities. In the process, they develop leaders, many of them young and people of color, decrease polarization, and defuse disinformation. In 2024, the Resource Rural program provided $4 million in grants and capacity support to 12 local partners. These partners then supported 370 communities and helped submit 320 grant applications, resulting in $145 million of public funding to help build essential rural infrastructure like water systems, housing, and energy-efficient schools. The Rural Climate Partnership boosts efforts that help communities take control of their own energy futures—building renewables, growing climate-smart agriculture, and lifting rural economies.

About 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, yet only 7% of philanthropy is focused on rural communities. These are resilient communities with resourceful people; they’re used to chipping in and working together, and they have really strong relationships. They often have a lot of assets but not the financial resources to thrive. We are working to change the narrative of what is possible in rural places so people stop thinking about them as dying and recognize them as places that are rich with people power, natural resources, beauty, and community. Philanthropic resources can have outsized leverage to make major, lasting changes here.”

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