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RCAC's Rural Review, v.28, no. 3, March 2011
By Jon R. Townsend, RCAC board of directors member
Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) practitioners who work in Indian Country face many challenges. While many of the same principles and practices that ADR practitioners employ when working abroad also apply, Indian Country is unique. This article by Jon Townsend focuses on several core concepts helpful to anyone working in Indian Country who wishes to create meaningful and culturally appropriate processes that result in culturally relevant and politically durable outcomes.
This piece is part of a larger article that was condensed for RCAC's Rural Review; to access the extended article, e-mail Jon Townsend at jon@agreementswork.com. Townsend has assisted hundreds of federal, state, non-government organizations, union and business organizations throughout the United States to diversify their workforce, negotiate and mediate “win-win” agreements, successfully manage intercultural conflict, and utilize and value differences in the workforce and community. He has worked with more than 100 tribal councils, associations and organizations in Indian Country. Internationally, he has conducted numerous workshops and provided consultations and trainings in Nicaragua, Mexico, Costa Rica, the former USSR, Russia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Cuba, Canada, Australia, Poland, England and Germany. He has a master’s degree in psychology from Sonoma State University and is a member of the United Association of Labor Educators (UALE). He is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Indian Nation.
RCAC's Rural Review, v.28, no. 3, March 2011
By Jon Christensen, executive director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California; Barton H. “Buzz” Thompson, Jr., the Robert E. Paradise professor in natural resources law and Perry L. McCarty director, Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University; and David M. Kennedy, the Donald J. McLachlan professor of history, Emeritus and co-director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University
Based on conclusions from dialogues held in 2008 and 2009, the Joint Program on Water in the West at Stanford University identified research, development, solution testing and approaches for water management improvement. This article discusses the challenges of fragmented, aging and competing issues that water systems in America's West currently face. The article is reprinted with permission from Rural Connections, May 2010. Rural Connections is a publication of the Western Rural Development Center.
RCAC's Rural Review, v.28, no. 2, November 2010
By Dr. Florine Raitano, RCAC board of directors president
This opinion piece was initially written for the April 2010 Senate Democratic Rural Policy Forum held in Washington, DC. The piece has been adapted to better fit RCAC's Rural Review format. Raitano touches on several issues and their impact on rural communities, including community development, federal programs, new energy, broadband, transportation and more. She draws liberally from Colorado examples, as she is based in Colorado.
RCAC's Rural Review, v.28, no. 2, November 2010
By Darrick Price, Yamhill Community Development Center executive director
Many organizations avoid overuse of jargon and acronyms in their marketing and informational materials. However, some jargon has become popular and has obtained standard use. Jargon can become problematic when translated to serve English second-language populations. In this article, Darrick Price examines one such term, "sweat equity" in-depth, and discusses challenges and possible solutions to better assist Spanish speaking clients.
RCAC's Rural Review, v.28, no. 1, June 2010
By Kirke Wilson, RCAC board member
As the economy slowly crawls toward a recovery, nonprofit organizations that serve rural areas persist in their continual search for available, appropriate funding and naturally turn to foundations for help. In Foundations short-change rural areas: Examining foundation rural giving, Wilson, RCAC board of directors member and former Rosenberg Foundation president, gives an overview of the history of foundation giving to rural areas, factors that impede such foundation giving, groups of foundation members that have made rural giving a priority and other significant aspects of the issue. He then suggests next steps. Wilson's article, "It's not who you know –– but who knows you: An introduction to foundation grants" in the January 2010 issue of this publication, was well received. This new article advances the discussion.
RCAC's Rural Review, v.28, no. 1, June 2010
By Dave Harvey, RCAC rural development manager, Stevan Palmer and Angela Hengel, rural development specialists
In response to concerns about aging workers leaving the workforce without a trained pool of professionals to replace them, small utilities gathered at a workforce symposium to mull over the problem and consider viable solutions. RCAC water experts Harvey, Palmer and Hengel joined to capture the main content of the symposium and offer this white paper, slightly adapted and reprinted with permission from Source, volume 23 number 4, Winter 2009. Source is a publication of the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association. The authors note that smaller utilities have unique and possibly more ominous challenges compared to other industry areas. Symposium participants proposed several options to lessen the impact when greatly experienced professionals vacate the workforce.
RCAC's Rural Review, v.27, no. 3, January 2010
By Chris Marko, RCAC rural development specialist
For more than 30 years, Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) has championed rural issues in a variety of ways. RCAC engages in rural housing campaigns, educates legislators about the importance of safe drinking water for rural communities and garners support for community development finance programs. While acknowledging apprehensions around engaging in these types of activities, the Nonprofit Advocacy: Toward a healthy, sustainable rural America article stresses the importance of participating. It identifies differences between nonprofit advocacy and lobbying and provides advocacy tips. Additionally, it highlights a few of RCAC’s advocacy successes.
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