Advisory Council

The Rural Climate Partnership Advisory Council (RCP-AC) is made up of champions for rural communities — practitioners, partners, and local leaders who are committed to advancing just, equitable, and transformative climate solutions driven by rural communities. The council not only provides strategic guidance but also nurtures values-aligned collaborations and amplifies rural voices, keeping our work grounded in the diverse lived realities and priorities of the communities we serve.

Amber Smith

Women in Ranching

Amber Smith is the Executive Director of Women in Ranching and steward of Antelope Springs Ranch in rural, eastern Montana. Her passion is rooted in building a future where rural families thrive and all people are empowered and supported in pursuing work that aligns with their passion and purpose. Her time working with NGOs in the Middle East, and six years as an Activity Director in a rural nursing home, has helped her develop a unique passion for creating spaces of dignity, joy, and acceptance. Women in Ranching allows her to center her work with people closest to the soil's surface, creating a network of peers who believe a better future is possible for us all.

Scott Elkins

Land Stewardship Project

Scott Elkins serves as executive director of Land Stewardship Project, a grassroots organization working for sustainable agriculture and thriving rural economies. Starting with his earliest work as a grassroots organizer, he has focused on movement building through a career that spans state and national leadership roles in a range of conservation organizations. If you want to get him talking on another topic, ask Scott about motorcycles, gardening, the novel he’s currently reading, or why he keeps going back to Marfa, Texas, and the Yukon.

Graham Christensen

RegeNErate Nebraska

Graham P. Christensen was born in Omaha and grew up nearby on his family’s farm. Graham first opened his eyes to the 1980’s Farm Crisis in which many family farmers and friends were losing their farms. Graham and his brother would often tag along with their parents to Washington, D.C. and across the country during those years in order to better the lives of struggling farmers. This would have a heavy influence on Graham’s life direction.

Despite the historical challenges presented to family farming, Christensen followed his family’s tradition and returned to the farm where he is actively involved in operating Christensen Farms, Inc. with his family. Inspired by the potential of agriculture solutions to deal with increasing air, water, and soil loss issues, the Christensens have been adopting regenerative principles on their farm.

Christensen is the Founder and President of GC Resolve, a communications and consulting company, which focuses on grassroots community development, mobilization, and education with an emphasis on environment and equality, and the creation of more resilient communities. Current projects under GC Resolve include educating and advocating for a change in the food production system to incorporate regenerative principles. Through these efforts, the RegeNErate Nebraska network was founded. Graham also owns and operates a second business, GC ReVOLT, a solar and alternative energy development company.

Sharon Mallory

2020 Farmers Cooperative

Sharon Mallory is a distinguished leader with a background as a commanding officer in the United States Army, where she honed her skills in leadership and strategic planning. After transitioning from military service, she built a successful career in finance, founding SDM Investments, LLC, to address clients' financial needs with the highest fiduciary standards. Currently, Sharon serves as the Executive Director of the 2020 Farmers Cooperative, where she is dedicated to advancing equity and equality in the agricultural industry, empowering socially disadvantaged farmers, and fostering sustainable practices. Her vision and commitment to transformative leadership are central to her work in creating inclusive opportunities in agriculture.

Michelle Moore

Groundswell

Michelle Moore is author of “Rural Renaissance” and CEO of Groundswell, a 501(c)(3) that builds community power with clean energy to cut energy burdens in half. A social entrepreneur and former White House official with roots in rural Georgia, Michelle is a relentless agent for change. She serves on the Boards of the Interdenominational Theological Center, an HBCU located in Atlanta, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public power utility. Michelle’s commitment is rooted in her faith and the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Veronica L. Womack

Rural Studies Institute

Veronica L. Womack serves as the inaugural Executive Director of the Rural Studies Institute at Georgia College and State University and Professor of Political Science and Public Administration. She hails from the Alabama Black Belt region and currently works in the Georgia Black Belt. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Masters of Public Administration, and doctorate in Political Science from the University of Alabama.

Heidi Kolbeck-Urlacher

Center for Rural Affairs

Heidi Kolbeck-Urlacher is the Assistant Policy Director for the Center for Rural Affairs. Heidi started working in rural community organizing in 2008, which kickstarted her advocacy career. She has been working at the Center since 2018 and spent her first 5 years in the clean energy policy program. A fifth-generation South Dakotan, Heidi makes her home in Brandon, SD with her spouse and three children.

James Skeet

Covenant Pathways

James Skeet is the co-founder of Covenant Pathways and Spirit Farm, a 501(c)(3) non,-profit organization. He is passionate about connecting the heart and soul of all peoples to the land through Indigenous Regenerative Intelligence that integrates the ancient wisdom of Native cosmology to create a haven where soil health, nutrient-rich foods, human health, and free markets can prosper for another 10,000 years. His heritage has assisted in grounding him in the work he does as a full-blooded Navajo Native American from Vanderwagen, New Mexico where he and his wife have an experiential farm, Spirit Farm, that uses only natural practices including microbiological composting, to heal the high desert southwestern soil to be a living example of how we can recover and reclaim traditional farming and spiritual practices to transform our way of life and health, reducing the dependency on the very food system that is harming us.

Valerie Hill Rawls

EcoWomanist Institute Southeast

Valerie Hill Rawls, MAPT, is the co-founder of the EcoWomanist Institute (EWI) and founder of EcoWomanist Institute Southeast (EWISE). She has a lifetime of experience at the intersections of social entrepreneurship, business and marketing, and climate justice leadership, womanist spirituality, and activism.

Joel Dyar

Co-op Leadership Academy

Joel Dyar is a 20 year community organizing and elections professional based in Western Colorado. Joel has helped over 400 candidates run for office in fourteen states and six countries, alongside work on state legislation for the energy transition. Today, Joel helps rural electric cooperative leaders bring great new energy ideas to life.

Mayane Barudin

Sovereign Energy

Mayane, founder of Sovereign Energy and Tribal member of Kewa Pueblo, is committed to fostering economic prosperity and environmental justice for Indigenous communities through a clean energy transition that prioritizes Tribal energy sovereignty. Her work includes spearheading the consultation process for New Mexico’s 2021 Community Solar Act, opening new opportunities for Tribes in the solar market. With experience in the private energy sector and nonprofit organizations, her expertise spans legislative strategy, clean energy development, and coalition building. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford and serves on several key energy and policy boards in New Mexico.

Marcela Díaz

Somos Un Pueblo Unido

Marcela Díaz is the Founding Executive Director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a statewide immigrant-based organization that works to advance racial and worker justice in New Mexico. Through its community organizing, electoral engagement, litigation, and policy advocacy efforts, Somos has helped shape New Mexico’s immigrant and worker’s rights landscape for over nearly three decades. Under Marcela’s leadership, the organization has spearheaded several local and statewide laws and has won dozens of awards for its grassroots work.

ADVISORY COUNCIL