Claiming rural by choice -
the start of a movement
Marci Penner, founder of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, noticed on her trip around Kansas in the early 2000s that the communities who supported their young adults often had an excitement and energy that helped the community move forward. Marci took steps to bring these young people together and this served as a powerful example of how to empower and support the next generation of leaders within a community. KSF has been convening, supporting, and promoting these Kansans, ages 21-39 who are Rural By Choice ever since then.
While the work of the PowerUp Movement has taken many forms over the past 15 years, the goal to create a culture, an ecosystem, where young people feel welcomed and are able to engaged and make a difference, we will be on our way to creating communities of Kansas’ future.
A focus on the PowerUps, in and of itself, won’t be enough to move our communities forward. This Movement is about considering all age groups and desiring that each one have the opportunity to enjoy a better life. The pathway to sustaining a rural lifestyle, and thus healthy rural communities, is through the empowerment and support of the PowerUps.
The term PowerUp is used to give permission to both younger and older adults to empower 21-39 year olds to step into leadership and contribute positively with their talents for the future of rural.
The Power Up & Go Report shares actions for recruiting and retaining young Kansans by improving connections to government, making child care an issue for everyone, acknowledging that the most accessible audience to populate rural communities is our own K-12 students, embracing diversity and allowing new business ideas to be championed, resourced and celebrated.
This report shows what can happen when we start listening to and believing in our young people. Supporting young rural Kansans supports everyone in rural Kansas. And when rural Kansas does well, the entire state does well.
