Rural Institute
An initiative of the You Make THE Difference Foundation
Research Into Action
Rural communities have extraordinary strengths, knowledge, and potential. The Rural Institute exists to help turn that potential into meaningful progress.
As the research, learning, and innovation arm of the You Make THE Difference Foundation, the Rural Institute brings together local experience, research, data, and promising ideas to develop practical solutions that strengthen rural communities across North America.
We don't believe in research for the sake of research. We believe in discovering what works, putting it into practice, and sharing what we learn.
The best solutions to rural challenges often begin with the people who understand those challenges firsthand.
Our role is to connect that local knowledge with research, expertise, innovation, and resources to help communities move forward.
We focus on four areas:
Identify emerging challenges, explore opportunities, and gather evidence that helps rural leaders make informed decisions.
Find, document, and share successful approaches so communities can learn from one another rather than continually reinventing the wheel.
Connect community leaders, organizations, researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to exchange knowledge and develop solutions.
Test promising ideas in real communities, learn from the results, and help expand solutions that demonstrate meaningful value.
Our approach: Research → Knowledge → Testing → Practical Action.
Great ideas deserve the opportunity to make a difference.
The Rural Innovation Lab is the innovation and activation arm of the Rural Institute.
It identifies, evaluates, incubates, tests, and helps scale promising solutions to challenges facing rural communities.
These solutions may come from entrepreneurs, established businesses, nonprofit organizations, community groups, researchers, or individuals with an idea worth exploring.
Through a structured process, we help determine whether an idea can deliver real value, what it needs to succeed, and how it might benefit communities beyond its original setting.
Our five stage approach:
Identify → Evaluate → Incubate → Pilot → Scale
The goal is not simply to support innovation. It is to develop solutions that are practical, sustainable, and capable of making a measurable difference.
The Rural Institute supports the Foundation's broader mission of strengthening the vitality and long term sustainability of rural communities.
Our work crosses five connected areas:
By connecting knowledge across these areas, we can identify solutions that benefit not just one organization or sector, but entire communities.
Strengthening resilience, belonging, and community connection.
Helping volunteer led institutions and community organizations become stronger and more sustainable.
Developing future leaders and supporting innovative approaches to youth engagement.
Exploring solutions that strengthen local organizations, employment, and economic opportunity.
Supporting informed decision making, effective leadership, and community engagement.
From one community to many.
The Rural Institute's work includes real world initiatives designed to test approaches that could be adopted elsewhere.
One example is our Student Lighthouse Cohort in Lowell, Michigan, where 30 students were awarded a six month training opportunity through the Rural Innovation Lab.
Working with Empowering Minds and local partners, these students are helping develop and test a student led model for recognizing when others may be struggling and connecting them with appropriate support.
What we learn will help determine how this approach can be improved, documented, and potentially adapted for other schools and communities.
This is Research Into Action: learning from real people, in real communities, to develop solutions others can use.
Lowell, Michigan
30 students
six month training opportunity
Rural Innovation Lab
Do you have an idea, initiative, technology, program, or approach that could strengthen rural communities?
Are you a researcher, entrepreneur, organization, or community leader interested in collaborating?
We want to hear from people who understand rural challenges and are committed to finding practical solutions.
Together, we can turn promising ideas into meaningful action.
The Rural Institute is part of the You Make THE Difference Foundation.
We invest in people, strengthen organizations, and build rural communities where everyone can thrive.
