Evaluation Offers Lessons for Future Community Development Initiatives

An overview and evaluation of the Managing Information with Rural America (MIRA) initiative provides valuable lessons for foundations and others planning rural community development initiatives. The MIRA evaluation may be viewed on this site’s MIRA Web page.

MIRA was a grantmaking initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Food Systems and Rural Development program area launched in 1997. The initiative, which concluded in 2001, provided grants to rural community teams, community and policy support organizations in 12 states ranging from Virginia to Hawaii. The program helped rural people in these target communities use communications and information technology as a tool to meet the challenges facing their communities.