Fostering Collaboration and Leveraging Investment
Action Teams are collaborative, action-oriented formations for AFN members, focused on producing concrete outcomes — like a playbook, a new fund, or solutions to regional challenges. Team members co-invest their time, energy, and/or capital, and work in close partnership with other funders, practitioners, and AFN staff.
action team 01
Rural News Fund
Two-hundred of the 257 counties that make up Central Appalachia are now designated as "News Deserts." The Rural News Fund works to rebuild and strengthen the region's news and information infrastructure through creative capital, technical assistance, cohort learning, and network building. Through coordinated investment and shared decision-making, the fund supports newsroom sustainability, addresses news deserts, and expands community-driven storytelling across the region.
Action Team 02
Appalachian Disaster Resilience Team
Building on the grantmaking and strategy developed during Hurricane Helene recovery, this team is working to shape AFN's long-term role in disaster resilience across Central Appalachia — seeking to improve how the region responds to future crises and strengthen its resilience over the long haul.