Join us for RUBI’s September briefing with Ethan Sweetland-May, a garbageman-turned-candidate for Indiana’s state senate seat. He has campaigned on affordability, safety with dignity, more rural hospitals, and support for small businesses and farms.

This will be one of a two-part series before midterms about pro-working class candidates and how they are messaging to their rural constituents.

PRE-REGISTER to learn more about our national network of local chapters collaborating to strengthen rural and working class communities through volunteerism and service.

Arguing about politics often ends in frustration and damaged relationships. This hour-long workshop will go over some basic interpersonal communication principles that can help shift the conversation from a grueling debate to a more respectful exchange of ideas.

This short presentation provides an overview of common pitfalls that undermine effective political communication and best practices for meeting persuadable rural voters where they're at.

Working people are working harder than before, for less and less. The wealthiest 1% of Americans have more wealth than the entire middle class combined. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage has not been raised in over 15 years, and the top marginal tax rate has fallen from 91% in the 1950s to 37% today. The tax code has been rewritten — repeatedly — in favor of those who need it least.

Erica Payne, Founder and President of Patriotic Millionaires, joins us to discuss The MONEY Agenda — a four-part policy package aimed at restructuring the tax code and wage floor to work for working people, not just the wealthy.

Why do so many working- and lower-income Americans sit out elections — even when the issues affect their lives most directly?

In this timely conversation, we’ll explore new research on what’s often called “voter apathy” and uncover a different story: many people who don’t vote aren’t disengaged from their communities, they’re disengaged from a political system they experience as distant, unresponsive, and built for someone else.

Swarthmore sociologist Daniel Laurison, who led the study, will walk us through findings from his latest research, Understanding the Political Disconnect, which examines why trust in political institutions is low among lower-income Americans, how feelings of exclusion shape participation, and what meaningful engagement might actually require.

What does it mean to run for office from a working-class background in rural America? This panel features candidates who are challenging assumptions about who gets to lead and whose voices matter. This panel will explore how life experience shapes political priorities, relationships with constituents, and approaches to governance.

Together, panelists Melissa Bird (OR), Nathan Sage (IA) and Paul Nolley (IL) will discuss how working-class leadership can strengthen democracy and build durable power across rural and urban communities.

What if states could make Citizens United irrelevant—without touching the Constitution or the courts?

This event presents a bold new strategy to do exactly that by using states’ long-standing authority over the corporations they charter. Because corporations exist only through state-granted powers, states can simply choose not to grant them the power to spend money in elections. By reframing the fight from constitutional rights to corporate powers, this “corporate power reset” offers a legally grounded, immediately actionable way to curb corporate money in politics and restore democratic accountability.

Join RUBI and Tom Moore, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, to learn more about this ground breaking approach and the movement taking shape in Montana to reclaim state power over corporate influence in politics.

Read the paper here.

Celebrate the Power of Rural

The Rural Impact Podcast is pleased to partner with the New England Rural Health Association on November 20, 2025, for a LIVE STREAM event celebrating National Rural Health Day and showcasing the "Rural Effect Initiative.

If American politics is broken, rural politics is apocalyptic. Our politics works best when parties have to compete for votes, but when one party can't compete, the other doesn't have to. One party rule in rural America has degraded our way of life. But it all started with civic collapse.

To diagnose and solve the problem, we spent the last two years interviewing rural leaders of every stripe (Democrat and Republican, tribal, business, faith, and other civic leaders) in a number of swing states. What we found was unsurprising and clear. Though the challenges are profound, there is a fix. In this session, we'll give a sneak peek to our report that will be released early next year. Join us for a clear-eyed and hopeful meeting.

As part of National Rural Health Day, join Community Works in Gates City, VA for an afternoon of information from health, community, and service groups available in Scott County.

Introducing Community Works—a project uniting rural voices to restore civic power, rebuild trust, and shape a stronger democratic future. Learn how to start your own branch and renew, rebuild, and bridge the divide.

Learn about the Rural New Deal and Rural Democracy Initiative's updated Rural Policy Action Plan, and actions you can take to promote them.