Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development

Massachusetts

Yellow Wood brings a special combination of content and process expertise to our work.

We invite you to explore our work.  Recent projects and presentations are listed below.  You can explore additional work using the various tags in the right hand column.

Land Trust Alliance Northeast Farmland Preservation Grantee Meeting Facilitation

Yellow Wood worked with the Land Trust Alliance Northeast Region and the 1772 Foundation to plan and facilitate a meeting of farmland preservation grantees.  The Land Trust Alliance Northeast Region has a collaborative relationship with the 1772 Foundation…

Becoming a Measurement Guide Coaching, Molly Anderson, Farm to Institution New England

Shanna Ratner provided coaching and mentoring to 2007 Measurement Guide Molly Anderson, Partridge Chair in Food & Sustainable Agriculture Systems, College of the Atlantic, during a You Get What You Measure® in Use session with Farm to Institution New…

Farm to Institution New England (FINE) Planning Retreat

FINE is a network of organizations working to strengthen farm to institution connections throughout New England. Yellow Wood worked with FINE using You Get What You Measure® to engage multiple stakeholders in clarifying its external goals, creating…

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012 Mel King Community Fellows

Shanna Ratner was selected as a member of the 2012 Mel King Community Fellows cohort. The 2012 Mel King Community Fellows Program is devoted to convening leading economic development and community development practitioners from across the United States…

New England Beef to Institution Steering Committee Facilitation

Yellow Wood served as a strategic partner and facilitator for eight monthly calls with the New England Beef to Institution Steering Committee. The purpose of the group is to cultivate a Community of Practice that enables participants to discuss challenges…

Achieving Sustainable Communities and Social Equity Conference

Shanna Ratner was a panelist for two sessions at this conference: "Place-based vs. Conventional Economic Development" and "Measuring Real Time Plan & Project Impacts." The conference was sponsored by the New England Federal Partnership for Sustainable…

National Cooperative Business Association Wealth Creation Pilot Project

Yellow Wood worked with the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) to conduct a pilot study on the unique contribution cooperatives make to the creation and retention of wealth in the communities and regions in which they operate. We worked…

Wood Energy Utilization Services

In an effort to help the Northeast and Midwest meet their needs for renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction through the sustainable utilization of woody biomass, the U.S. Forest Service engaged Yellow Wood Associates in conducting third party…

Green Community Technologies®: Phase II, Improving Decision-making for Sustainable Infrastructure

Yellow Wood worked with 9 communities throughout New England on inventory and assessment and research on alternative technologies.

Massachusetts Trust for Public Land

Yellow Wood partnered with Mt. Auburn Associates to help the Massachusetts Trust for Public Land build a framework for discussing the full range of economic benefits derived from public land. Categories of economic benefit include contributions to…

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Outcome Funding Evaluation

Yellow Wood evaluated the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and its work helping advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education…

Green Community Technologies®: Phase II, Barnstable County, MA

Yellow Wood worked with Barnstable County officials to create an Asset Inventory of the County’s buildings, vehicles and parking. County officials closest to each piece of infrastructure worked on completing customized forms to gather information.…

See The Forest® – Phase II

The Southern New England Forest Consortium sponsored development of materials and implementation of See the Forest for communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Participants learned about forest health, forest economics, and institutional…

Analysis of Community-Based Forestry Initiative, Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group

The Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group, which is administering the Ford Foundation’s Community-Based Forestry Initiative in the United States, invited Shanna Ratner of Yellow Wood Associates to review and analyze the monitoring plans of nine…

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program Outcome Funding

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. worked with NESARE in piloting an outcome-funding approach to grantmaking. The work included two year’s participation in the design process, proposal reviews, interviews with potential grantees, committee work to select…

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE)

Served a three-year term on the Administrative Council of the Northeast Region’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.

Rural Community Capacity Building

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. delivered a two-day training program in collaboration with Vicki Creed of Learning Partners on community capacity building for the Massachusetts Rural Development Council (MRDC) and the Agency of Community Development.…

Institutional Arrangements Study for the Lake Champlain Basin

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. provided project management and conducted research on behalf of the Lake Champlain Management Conference to recommend possible alternatives, modifications and/or enhancements to existing institutional and funding arrangements…

Four State Produce Marketing Implementation - Year Two

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. co-organized a regional wholesale produce marketing workshop for growers and buyers, developed a detailed organizational plan for the New England Produce Program, and prepared a guidebook for direct and traditional wholesale…

Four State Produce Marketing Study - Year One

Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. identified the potential for regional wholesale marketing of locally grown produce in the Connecticut River Valley including Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Funding was received through a Federal/State…