We at The Hub are thrilled to announce the newest addition to our communications team, Jorge Rodriguez-Stanley. Jorge will serve as the Communications Associate to help with storytelling and uplifting the work being done in Hub communities around the state. He was raised in Florida and started his career in storytelling in Los Angeles but is no stranger to West Virginia. Jorge has spent a lot of time visiting his husband’s family in Greenbrier County and has relocated to Ronceverte, where he has already spent years working with the community to develop and grow The River City. You can expect new content uplifting community leaders, community teams, and everything that makes community development and The Hub’s work come to life.
Jorge is working alongside Emma Pepper, our Director of Strategic Network Communications. Emma and Jorge connected for a conversation to share about Jorge’s background; his passion and work in his own community, Ronceverte; and what he is excited about in the months to come.
Jorge Rodriguez-Stanley: I am one of those people that had their perspective and life changed because of Covid. I worked in Latinx media for years in Los Angeles and loved the work I was doing but realized that my path needed to change to something that made a real impact. My husband is from West Virginia so I have visited the state regularly and fell in love the first time I made the trip out here. There is an energy in the Mountain State that I haven’t experienced anywhere else and it is inspiring.
I had two friends send me the job description for The Hub when I was still in Los Angeles and something kept bringing me back to it. I knew that it was something that would get me to the place I wanted to be where my work can have a real impact. I am so in awe with the organization and the work done by The Hub to uplift communities and their leaders to make their towns everything they know it can be.
JRS: Community development is so important because it gives people in their communities a chance to take charge of their towns. You can see a change in people when they are given a chance to step into leadership roles when they never thought they could. I love seeing people realize that they can lead the charge in helping their community.
To me, personally, community development is so important. I currently live in Ronceverte in Greenbrier County and have been active in community development before joining The Hub. My husband and I have taken part in group discussions about what the community needs and how we can work together to get Ronceverte to the next level. Like so many other communities in West Virginia, Ronceverte has fallen on hard times and it took a little push to activate a team of community members who are eager to see Ronceverte thrive again.
JRS: I love storytelling. It is the backbone of my career and my passion. I love meeting with people I have never met to learn from them about what they are doing, what they need, and what they want to talk about with me. My motto when it comes to my storytelling work is to meet people without pretense. I am not there to tell the story I want to tell. I am there to tell the story people I am talking to want to tell. I walk into spaces and allow myself to be in a place with the understanding that I don’t know the full story. I am not in the community so I am always learning while gathering the content to tell the story. I see myself as a vessel for telling the stories that people want to share and I am excited to bring my skills to The Hub to start spreading the good news and good stories brimming in West Virginia communities.
JRS: What excites me most about working with The Hub is first and foremost the incredible staff. I am so impressed with the team of people dedicated to working within communities in West Virginia to make positive changes at the local level by empowering communities. I can’t express enough how impressive I find the staff to be.
I am also very excited to get into the work of telling stories of communities making a difference in their cities. West Virginia deserves accurate storytelling highlighting the positive work happening around the state. Great things are happening in West Virginia and it is crucial that organizations and communities within West Virginia lead the charge in telling the stories and getting them out to the national audience. People need to know what is really happening in West Virginia, not the current narrative highlighting only the negative stereotypes.
I love West Virginia and the people that make this state so great. There is so much kindness and community involvement all throughout West Virginia and I am so excited to be part of telling this story by highlighting the people and communities making it happen. I consider this to be something that gives my work real meaning and I cannot wait to meet the wonderful Hub communities and tell their stories.
Jorge Rodriguez-Stanley is The Hub’s Communications Associate. You can reach him at j.rodriguezstanley@wvhub.org.
The West Virginia Community Development Hub (The Hub) is proud to announce that Executive Director Stephanie Tyree is a steering committee member for the newly launched Green Bank for Appalachia, Energy Communities, and Underserved Rural America (Green Bank for Rural America).
Cultivate WV focuses on helping communities build sustainable models of engagement through workshops, project-planning, and more.
The Hub is excited to announce Cohort 2 of the Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities (BRECC) Action Challenge.
Our work is made possible thanks to incredible partnerships with other community development organizations across the state. From local economic development authorities (EDAs) to state level nonprofits working to uplift communities, all of our partners are crucial in making West Virginia the best it can possibly be by working together.One partner that made our work truly profound this year is Coalfield Development. For years, Coalfield Development has worked to rebuild Appalachian communities by inspiring the courage to grow, activating the creativity to innovate, and cultivating communities of opportunity in central Appalachia.We are proud to be part of Coalfield Development’s ACT Now Coalition, a broad network of organizations working hand-in-hand to uplift communities throughout Southern West Virginia. The ACT Now Coalition is infusing more than $63 million into programs to help communities using business development, building revitalization, and so much more.The Hub is leading the Community and Business Resilience Initiative as part of the larger ACT Now Coalition to bring other partners with us to build up community and business resilience in the Coalition’s footprint.“For decades, we’ve known the economy of southern West Virginia needs diversification. Some progress has been made on this goal, but not nearly enough,” Brandon Dennison, CEO of Coalfield Development, said about the ACT Now Coalition. “ACT Now constitutes a tangible opportunity to take a major leap forward in this generational challenge to become a vibrant, growing, diversified economy. In the wake of continued coal-job losses, nothing could be more important for our region.”Our partnership with Coalfield Development is giving us a chance to take our work to new communities and to build upon our years of experience. Working alongside Coalfield Development in this large undertaking to bring $63.8 million to communities in Southern West Virginia is validation that the work happening to uplift West Virginia communities continues to grow.
The Hub works alongside communities across West Virginia coaching community teams as they come together to make transformative changes in their towns. In 2022, one town stands out for its continued work and unwavering commitment to making its community a place where people want to live, work, play, and visit.Petersburg, located in Grant County at the northernmost point of the Mon Forest, is filled with community members who want to make their town a destination. Not only have businesses opened, and stayed open, the town has transformed the way they present to the world through rebranding and outdoor recreational development.As part of the HubCAP IV program, Petersburg utilized its technical assistance to push forward with projects to bring transformative change to its community. Part of the work Petersburg worked towards was creating plans to pave a hike and bike trail that runs along the Petersburg dike. The proposed trail will run approximately three miles along the Petersburg dike and will include multiple entrances for walkers and bikers. The group secured a $25,000 grant from Senator Hamilton, which was matched locally by the City of Petersburg, the County Commission, and the Board of Education, each adding an equal share to bring the total to $50,000.This year, Petersburg witnessed a major upgrade to one of the town’s most iconic and historic structures: The Hermitage Inn. The hotel, which dates back to 1841, has been renovated and once again welcomes guests to stay the night and have a nice dinner in the restaurant.The Hermitage Inn is the first project initiated and completed as part of the Downtown Appalachia: Revitalizing Recreational Economies (DARRE) program. Seeing the old hotel returned to its majesty has been an incredible development for Petersburg adding another jewel to the downtown area.Seeing Hub communities come together to create transformative change thrills us. Community members are the subject matter experts on what their towns need. Our commitment to accompaniment and walking alongside communities as they do the hard work guides us in our work. Celebrating their victories with them gives us a moment to uplift those making the work happen.
Since 2018, The Hub has been working diligently to bring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into our work. For years, the organization has been working internally to expand on one of our core values: “We believe diversity creates strength.”We believe that now is a time when we must work from the ground up to commit to long-term efforts to build power through leadership development, programmatic strategies, and partnerships that commit to building power and advancing racial equity.Looking back at our organizational history, we acknowledge that our work in rural communities with populations of less than 15,000 has not reached a diverse cross-section of people in West Virginia. Because of this, we began to ask, “Who isn’t here?” when examining our involvement in communities. The social unrest in 2020 led us to examine our role in white supremacy, ableism, classism, and gender discrimination, and the ways we have perpetuated unjust systems in our communities and across West Virginia.Since 2020, our equity journey has included a staff racial equity learning series, making internal commitments to increasing our hiring and retainment of diverse staff including creating full-time Racial Equity Fellowship and VISTA positions, committing to increased coaching for rural communities of color across the state, and tackling the inherent challenges of advancing equity across the community development field within a highly rural, majority white state where Black and brown leadership has been historically marginalized and under-invested.Our belief in the power of local people to see the value and the potential of their place, and of each other, is at the core of our belief in the potential we have to build power in West Virginia to advance racial equity, inclusion, and accessibility while disrupting systems that have historically excluded some communities.We are committed to engaging in conversations to uplift communities and leaders of color to move from talk to action on why race matters in West Virginia as we work to disrupt these systems. We will support investment in Black-led organizations and rural Black leadership. And we are committed to driving public and private investments into these spaces, both organizational and geographic.
A core team led by Unleash Tygart, Inc participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Core teams led by Thundercloud, Inc. and the City of Huntington participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support community development projects located in Opportunity Zones.
A core team led by Crawford Holdings, LLC participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
A core team led by Woodlands Development Group also participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Watch their community documentary.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
It has been a year of abundant opportunities and partnerships across the state, and a year that has pushed all of us to work harder, faster, and smarter – together.At The Hub, we say that “the work works when you put in the work.” This means that our approach to community-based development, and individual leadership development, really does transform local communities, especially when we all work together for the same goal, and stay committed to working together for the long haul.In 2023, we continued to be amazed at the local leadership, drive and innovation we saw in communities throughout the state that are building locally-driven development from the ground up. Our network of community leaders, partners and opportunities keeps growing and shows no signs of slowing in 2024!
We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone for being part of the larger Hub community as we reflect on this year’s deep impact in West Virginia communities through our work. We are thrilled to have champions who believe in our mission that every community in West Virginia can achieve economic growth when they are supported with the tools and training they need to lead and spark positive change.
We believe strongly in the fact that putting in the work yourself to improve your neighborhood, your town, and our state is where true transformational change happens. With strategic partners and thought leaders like you in the work with us, we continue to be able to walk alongside community teams as they do the work to uplift their communities.Thank you to all of the community teams and leaders who are brave enough to keep showing up every day, and putting in thousands of hours of volunteer time to support your communities and the entire state. Your determination in the face of difficult work and far-off successes is something to applaud yourself for – and to celebrate.Whether you’re volunteering on the ground in your community, sharing our stories of hope with your friends and neighbors, or attending a virtual event with The Hub, your participation in our work is what keeps it going. Thank you for all your work and support this past year, and we are excited to continue in the work with you in 2024!In Continued Accompaniment,
