A Letter from Ian Hill
It began with a commitment to strengthen fairs and agricultural societies across North America. Institutions that bring people together, carry traditions forward, and give each generation a place to contribute.
That commitment took me to hundreds of small towns. And as I travelled, I came to understand that the work before us was bigger than where we had begun.
We see people exhausted from carrying their communities for years, with fewer hands to share the work and resources stretched thin. Those same people hold knowledge, ability, and determination that can change the future of the places they call home.
I believed we had a moral obligation to help. To build on the work we had started and put our experience, relationships, and resources to work alongside them.
That conviction is at the heart of the You Make THE Difference Foundation.
We believe rural is relevant in the 21st century.
We believe the future of the United States and Canada depends on the strength of their rural communities. And we believe the timeless agrarian principles that built those communities have a vital place in shaping what comes next.
We believe those same people and their communities can accomplish extraordinary things.
We believe the people closest to the problem are best suited to solve it.
They are the heroes of their own stories. We exist to serve them.
We commit ourselves to a future where rural communities flourish. Where people are well. Where civic institutions are strong and relevant, government serves its people, and business, education, and the social profit sector work together for the good of the whole community.
Where every person is known, needed, and connected.
Where the next generation sees a future worth building.
The You Make THE Difference Foundation exists to help make that future real.
We engage people in relationships built on trust.
We equip them with meaningful information and tangible tools.
We support them in their journey.
We celebrate them as they succeed.
We spread their stories far and wide, showing what they accomplished and how, so others are inspired to take on their own challenges and create their own successes.
We will strengthen the institutions they lead and support them as they take on challenges that have come to feel insurmountable. We will undertake innovative projects that test the boundaries of what is possible.
You can expect practical education, useful tools, and support that continues when the event is over. You can expect us to honour our commitments and do the work alongside you.
Our ambition is a growing movement of rural communities whose accomplishments give other communities reason to believe and a way to act.
A future built by people who discover, through what they accomplish together, that they make THE difference.
If you share that belief in rural communities and the people who call them home, we invite you to help build that future with us.
Thank you for the difference you make.
Ian Hill
You Make THE Difference Foundation
