The Northwest Area Foundation has awarded North Dakota State University a $300,000 grant to continue working with the 42 North Dakota communities that completed the Horizons program.

Horizons is an 18-month leadership development program for rural communities with 5,000 or fewer people and a poverty rate of at least 10 percent. Residents explore their perceptions about poverty, complete a leadership development course, create a vision and strategic plan for their community and put parts of these plans into action.

“This grant is important to us because it will allow us to maintain our relationship with these 42 communities in a way that will continue to focus on poverty reduction and prosperity building activities in rural North Dakota towns,” says Lynette Flage, NDSU Extension Service community leadership specialist and Horizons program director.

The grant will allow the NDSU Extension Service to hold regional and statewide educational programs and activities on topics such as entrepreneurship, financial literacy and leadership, and training on dealing with public issues. The programs will be open to the residents from the 42 communities and any other community in the state, according to Flage.

The Northwest Area Foundation, based in St. Paul, Minn., has provided the funding for the Horizons program and the Extension Service has provided training, coaching and resources.

For more information about the Horizons program, visit http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/horizons.

NDSU Agriculture Communication