Partners & Collaborators
Collaboration
Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest partners with local, regional, and national organizations, agencies, grassroots groups, and community members. Together we promote sustainable livelihoods, share knowledge through workshops, and widen access to programs.
Grant and foundation support for our work is recognized on our Supporters page.
How We Partner
- Event collaboration and regional meetings
- Knowledge and resource sharing
- Service-learning and university partnerships
- Fiscal sponsorship for aligned projects, when there is a good fit
Network
Community & Regional Partners
Past, present, and future community partners include:
Programs & Education
- Berea College Appalachian Center
- Berea Arts Council
- Berea College Center for Learning through Service (CELTS)
- Berea College Grow Appalachia
- Berea College Forestry Outreach Center
- Berea College Special Collections & Archives
- Berea College Sustainability & Environmental Studies (SENS)
- University of Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns
- University of Kentucky Appalachian Center
- UK Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK)
- UK Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
- Western Kentucky University Department of Folk Studies & Anthropology
- Clear Creek Schoolhouse
- Lexington Public Library
Arts, Culture & Heritage
- Arts Connect Eastern Kentucky (ACEKY)
- Kentucky Arts Council
- Kentucky Folklife Program
- Kentucky Foundation for Women
- Kentucky Historical Society
- Oral History Association (OHA)
- Rockcastle Arts Association
- Southeast Kentucky African-American Museum & Cultural Center
- Laurel County African American Heritage Center
- Waymakers Collective: Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly
- Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN)
- Appalachian Studies Association (ASA)
Community & Place
SPARK & Mountain Association
ASPI is a member of the SPARK Collaborative, facilitated by the Mountain Association, which offers professional development and workshops for a peer network of small nonprofits in Eastern Kentucky.
ASPI works regularly with consultant Judy Sizemore, who has been involved with ASPI for several years through the SPARK program, a Mountain Association strategic-planning consultancy, and, briefly, as a board member. In 2023, Judy collaborated with ASPI to pilot a hybrid version of the Kentucky Community Scholars Program, in partnership with the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Folklife Program. She continues working with ASPI on grants, community partnerships, accessibility, and programming.
Fiscal Sponsorship
ASPI offers fiscal sponsorship for projects and programs whose missions align with ours when groups do not have their own nonprofit status or organizational infrastructure.
- Our Land of Promise (OLP) — Since March 2024, ASPI has served as the fiscal sponsor for OLP, led by Kentucky Community Scholar Aaron Banther and dedicated to honoring and preserving African American heritage in Berea, Kentucky.
- Arts Connect Eastern Kentucky (ACEKY) — ASPI previously served as fiscal sponsor for this collective of Kentucky artists serving women in jails and recovery centers. ACEKY’s work now continues under Recovering Joy Arts & Nature Center.
To apply: Contact us to complete the Fiscal Sponsorship application. Please read the Terms of Agreement before applying.
Service Learning & Farm Day
Since its founding in the late 1970s, ASPI has regularly hosted service-learning students — notably through the University of Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns — and welcomes students from other colleges and universities. Programming often includes a Farm Day: hands-on work with local homesteads and farms. Dozens of families have hosted students during alternative breaks over the years.
Work with ASPI
Explore partnership options, or see how grants and donations sustain this work. ASPI’s work is made possible through community support, partnerships, and shared commitment to a more sustainable future.