Free national platform makes trusted funding, data, training and tools easier for rural practitioners to access

SAN ANTONIO, TX, UNITED STATES, October 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Partners for Rural Impact today launched The Rural Portal, a free national platform that helps rural leaders quickly find trusted training, funding opportunities, and tools they can use in their communities. The Rural Portal was launched from the main stage of the National Forum to Advance Rural Education before more than 600 rural educators and leaders from across the country.

The setting was intentional. In rural communities, schools are central to place-based partnerships supporting young people and families. Yet rural educators are doing complex work with small teams and limited time to find resources that fit their rural context.

Partners for Rural Impact heard a consistent need as they connected with rural leaders across the nation: free access to trusted tools that can be applied locally. The Rural Portal was built in response.

“For more than 30 years in Appalachian Kentucky, we spent countless hours finding the resources and opportunities our communities need,” said Dreama Gentry, President and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact. “The Rural Portal brings trusted resources together in one place, informed by what we use in our own practice and what rural leaders across the country tell us they need.”

The Rural Portal was developed through a corporate partnership with Comcast Corporation, whose investment helped Partners for Rural Impact make the resource available at no cost to rural leaders nationwide.

“We believe where you live should not determine your access to opportunity,” said Gwyneth Gaul, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Philanthropy at Comcast. “Our partnership with Partners for Rural Impact is about helping rural communities connect people to the tools, resources and pathways that can strengthen economic mobility. The Rural Portal brings trusted, locally informed resources together in one place, helping community leaders turn knowledge into action and expand opportunity for the people and places they serve.”

The Rural Portal connects users to relevant resources ranging from public and private funding opportunities to data, training, and tools that strengthen local capabilities. A growing set of curated destinations includes StriveTogether’s Training Hub, Delivery Associates’ Community Funding Accelerator and Rural Together, hosted by Education Design Lab. Additional destinations will be added over time.

Launching The Rural Portal at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education placed the resource directly in front of the audience it was designed to serve.

“In rural communities, schools are often at the center of the partnerships that support young people and families,” said Melissa Sadorf, Executive Director of the National Rural Education Association. “School leaders are working with families, employers, nonprofits and community partners while also navigating funding, data and program needs. Having one trusted, no-cost place to find credible resources gives rural educators and their partners more capacity to focus on students, families and their communities.”

The Rural Portal joins The Rural newsletter, the Rural Library Network and the Rural Summit as part of Partners for Rural Impact’s growing support for rural leaders nationwide. Together, these resources help practitioners find credible information, learn from one another and strengthen efforts already underway in their communities.

More than 14 million young people are growing up in rural America. Partners for Rural Impact is working to make it easier for the people closest to those young people to access the resources and relationships they need to help them thrive.

J. Morgan
Partners for Rural Impact
+1 859-358-6851
j.morgan@partnersrural.org