The National Advisory Committee (NAC) for the Thrive Rural Framework comprises leading national policymakers, as well as local practitioners and experts in health, community building, and community & economic development.
NAC members provide strategic guidance to the Thrive Rural Framework collaboration.
![Elsie Meeks, a white woman, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ElsieMeeks.jpg)
Elsie Meeks
Member, Board of Trustees, Native American Agricultural Fund
![Bree Watzak, a white woman, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bree_watzak.jpg)
Bree Watzak
Director of Technical Assistance, Center for Optimizing Rural Health
![Ines Polonius, a white woman, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ines_polonius.jpg)
Ines Polonius
CEO, Communities Unlimited, inc.
![Nathan Ohle, a white man, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/nathanOhle-1.jpg)
Nathan Ohle
CEO, Rural Community Assistance Partnership
![Felicia Lucky, a Black woman, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Felecia-Lucky_Headshot_Sept-2019-e1647977282337.jpg)
Felecia Lucky
President, Black Belt Community Foundation
![Whitney Kimball Coe, a white woman, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/whitney_headshot.jpg)
Whitney Kimball Coe
Director of National Programs, Center for Rural Strategies
![Cara James, a Black woman, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/james_cara_noflag-5x7-1.jpg)
Cara James
President and CEO, Grantmakers in Health
![Jason Henderson, a white man, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/JasonHenderson.jpg)
Jason Henderson
Senior Associate Dean and Director of Extension, Purdue University
![Mark Haggerty, a white man, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Mark-Haggerty-Headwaters-Economics-e1556202365464.jpg)
Mark Haggerty
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
![Anita Brown-Graham, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Brown-Graham.jpg)
Anita Brown-Graham
Law Professor and Director, ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government
![Roque Barros, a man of color, headshot](https://www.aspencsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Barros.jpg)
Roque Barros
Director, Ford Institute for Community Building at the Ford Family Foundation