“Across the United States, young people living in rural areas face significant challenges, including high poverty rates, underfunded schools, limited access to healthcare and shrinking economic opportunities. Although 1 in 5 Americans live in rural areas, these regions receive only seven percent of private philanthropic capital, leaving them underserved and often struggling to access critical public and private funds.
The BlackRock Foundation’s investment will enable PRI to address these challenges by expanding its capacity to connect with rural leaders and organizations across the nation, activate public and private funding and strengthen local capacity to ensure rural youth are on a path to upward mobility.
‘Place matters and rural residents across the nation are working to strengthen their rural places. With the grant, PRI can better support these rural leaders and practitioners, connecting them with resources and opportunities as they work to ensure all young people within their communities have a pathway to success,’ said Dreama Gentry, CEO of Partners for Rural Impact.
‘The support from The BlackRock Foundation allows PRI to grow our capacity to support rural communities that are working to ensure their young people have the opportunity to lead choice-filled lives without leaving home.’”