Accelerating Agrarianism in Appalachia
a conversation with eco-entrepreneur Sara Day Evans
What naturally starts as an interesting dissection of the tragi-magic quality of Appalachian living turns inevitably into Sara Day's amazing work with Accelerating Appalachia, a nature-based business accelerator that connects innovative businesses, investors, and mentors who aligned with people, place, and prosperity. Oh, and SaraDay is Wendell Berry's niece-in-law!
Sara Day Evans is the Founding Director for Accelerating Appalachia and Co-Founder of Prosperity Collective. She's a sixth-generation Kentuckian and has worked with communities and small businesses across the southeast for over 20 years. She’s served over 300 communities and small businesses in economic development, entrepreneurship, and environmental protection and leveraged over $250M in funding in service to the southeast and Appalachian region. She was awarded a presidential commendation from Bill Clinton for her work in the health and livelihood of women living in Appalachian Kentucky through her clean water efforts.
With degrees in Geology/Hydrogeology and a background in water law, she was instrumental in developing Kentucky’s groundwater protection programs and later developed Kentucky’s first ongoing solid waste management fund, resulting in an 85% reduction in illegal dumping and a 25% increase in recycling. She served western North Carolina’s hardest-hit counties by developing sustainable economy plans that fit with the people and place of the region and created North Carolina’s Green Economy Resources Directory. She’s particularly proud of the program she developed and implemented to install clean energy systems on farms in western NC’s high-unemployment counties while also training high school and community college students in clean energy installation. In 2011, Sara Day co-founded the social enterprise Prosperity Collective inspired by the textile, farming, and forest products skills of the Appalachians, the expanding world of social entrepreneurs, and investing for good, she launched Accelerating Appalachia in 2012 to serve nature-based businesses in Appalachia and beyond.