Alliance for Rural Impact Advances SDGs in Arkansas and Mid-South

Alliance for Rural Impact (ARI) is a nonprofit organization focused on building community equity by finding and providing expert technical assistance to under-supported rural and tribal partners. ARI stand out to Echo360 as a mission-driven organization committed to supporting environmental justice communities. Based out of Arkansas, ARI works with partners at home and “throughout the [Mississippi] Delta and Mid-South regions [that] encompass portions of Texas, the Great Plains and Appalachia.”  

Echo360 shares our environmental justice ethos with many in the research community who believe that all people in any community ought to have a say in how the commons are governed to promote environmental and public health. Echo360 recognizes the historic disproportional environmental harms thrust onto “communities in poverty and community of color,” and so stands proudly with our customers like ARI who are working on the front lines to help improve these communities. 

ARI writes that “our ultimate goal is to bring about positive changes that result in community prosperity,” strongly aligning themselves with UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) eight (decent work and economic growth) and making it clear their work transcends the transactional. To accomplish this goal with communities, ARI relies on its time-tested process for identifying existing assets and leveraging them to drive progress. ARI also directly serves “diverse small businesses, micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs” with financial support from their Rural Impact Fund.  

Capital from the Rural Impact Fund can help modernize rural enterprises with limited access to traditional sources of financing who are facing a growing implementation gap in business technology. ARI includes the purchase of energy efficiency technology within the scope of eligible uses, as well as dollars spent on technology upgrades to keep these smaller enterprises competitive in a larger marketplace. This shows that ARI’s work aligns not only with some of the more specific SDGs like seven (affordable and clean energy) and nine (industry, innovation and infrastructure), but also with the high-level goals of ending poverty (one), creating sustainable communities (11) and taking climate action (13).  

ARI has also done significant work to strengthen local food system in rural and tribal communities, contributing towards SDG two, zero hunger. Even with agriculture being a pillar of rural economies, small local producers growing a more diverse range of crops have not had access to business development resources that prepare an entrepreneur for long-term success. To address this need, ARI created a program called IMPACT GROUNDWORKS to fill producers’ knowledge gaps and provide a quality education (SDG four) on building and maintaining sustainable business systems.   

ARI, like everyone, needs a network, so the Alliance collaborates with climate-minded partners like Echo360 and Ecological Design Group to make sure they’re delivering ethical and environmentally conscious solutions to real environmental justice problems.