White House Recognizes Rural Innovators for Their Community-Focused Work

By Anya Petrone Slepyan

On December 18, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration honored 14 Rural Innovators during an event at the White House. The attendees had been nominated by the public for their service to their rural communities in a variety of areas including education, economic development, broadband infrastructure, and health services. 

The event was headlined by three White House officials: Neera Tanden, a domestic policy advisor, Stephen Benjamin, the director of public engagement, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. 

“The Biden-Harris Administration is investing in rural America to create opportunity for farmers, small business owners, families, and communities,” according to a press release from the White House. 

The diverse interests and achievements of the Rural Innovators honored at the event reflected some of the many challenges facing rural communities and showcased local solutions. 

Rural communities are less likely to have access to high-speed internet. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided a $65 billion investment in broadband infrastructure, but funding is not the only complication for many communities. Local leadership can make all the difference. 

Rural Innovators Jill Dunham from Allegan County, Michigan, and Jeremiah Clever from Meridian, Idaho, both work to expand broadband access in their communities and across their states. With a background in Technology, Dunham serves as the Broadband project manager for the Allegan County Government. As the president of Communications Workers of America local 7603, Clever directs the union’s Fiber Technician Apprenticeship Program, which provides workforce training for the future broadband workers of Idaho. 

The event also honored several Rural Innovators for their work in education. These included Sylandi Brown, a member of the school board in Pulaski County, Georgia, Alexis Racelis, a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Rick Erickson, a retired high school teacher from Bayfield, Wisconsin. 

Another educator honored at the event was Michael Jefferson, the president of Cut One, School One, Youth Crime Intervention in Tunica, Mississippi. His program provides technical training and career opportunities in barbering and cosmetology as an intervention program. By combining vocational training with educational support and mental health treatment, the program aims to “redirect young lives towards positive futures,” according to the website.

Sustainable agriculture, food systems, and rural health are other areas of work amongst the Rural Innovators in attendance. Farmer Erin Martin works the North Carolina land her great-great-grandparents bought in 1883 and advocates for locally grown, fresh food as the outreach coordinator for a grocery store cooperative. Jennifer Gauthier, an enrolled member of the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, directs the Sustainable Development Institute at the College of Menominee Nation, applying indigenous knowledge to climate change and food systems research. Ted Matthews served as the administrator for several rural hospitals in Texas and came out of retirement to support Anson General Hospital as it transitioned to a federally-designated Rural Emergency Hospital. 

Another Rural Innovator recognized at the event was Luis Omar Garcia, the president of Unidos por la Comunidad Arenas. He has spearheaded a number of community health initiatives in his neighborhood of Arenas in the town of Guánica in southern Puerto Rico. 

In an area hit hard by the 2020 earthquakes, Garcia helped coordinate the delivery of critical supplies, as well as medical visits and mental health support. His organization also helped the Arenas neighborhood become the first in Puerto Rico to establish a local testing, tracking, and monitoring program at the onset of the 2019 Covid-19 pandemic. 

The White House also recognized Rural Innovators working in economic development, philanthropy, as well as art organizations. 

The Daily Yonder provides news, commentary, and analysis about and for rural America. You can see daily coverage at dailyyonder.com.