Whitney Kimball Coe
Whitney Kimball Coe is Director of National Programs for the Center for Rural Strategies and also serves as coordinator of the National Rural Assembly, a rural movement made up of activities and partnerships geared toward building a more inclusive nation for all the people in all the places. Whitney directs national gatherings of the Rural Assembly, which bring together rural leaders and advocates from every region with policy-makers, funders, and public interest organizations. She also coordinates Congressional briefings for policy-makers, as well as learning convenings for funders and their grantees on pressing rural issues. Whitney has master's degree in Appalachian studies from Appalachian State University in North Carolina and an undergraduate degree in religion and philosophy from Queens University of Charlotte. She lives with her husband and two daughters in her hometown of Athens, Tennessee, where she also wears many hats, including fitness instructor, community theatre player, and weekly columnist for the local newspaper.
A new generation of young people is returning to rural areas to immerse themselves in community. Whitney Kimball Coe is one of them, and she recently shared her insights and personal experiences in this moving, hope-filled speech at the very first Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago – to an appreciative audience that included Barack and Michelle Obama. Continue reading →
