Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

Since their founding in 2024, Trust for Civic Life has invested nearly $27M into rural regions. With trust in national institutions seeing a decline, community-based solutions are gaining momentum. To read the full article, you can visit trustforciviclife.org

The South is among the most undercapitalized regions in the country. To resolve this, foundations and nonprofits across the country are embracing an emerging strategy called enterprise capital. To learn more about this flexible, large-scale, multiyear investment, you can read the full article by visiting wrfoundation.org/in-the-news

Applications are now open for the 2026–2027 Micah Fellows Program!

The Micah Fellows Program is a statewide learning journey for clergy and spiritually grounded leaders who are passionate about addressing poverty, advancing economic justice, and creating lasting change in their communities.

Hosted by the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas in partnership with Faith Matters Network and supported by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Micah Fellows equips leaders with the relationships, tools, and resources to move from faithful reflection to faithful action.

Throughout the program, Fellows participate in:
• In-person retreats
• Monthly virtual learning sessions
• Spiritual formation
• Advocacy and public leadership development
• A Minigrant Action Project that creates tangible impact in their community

If you're ready to join a growing network of leaders committed to justice, healing, and collective flourishing across Arkansas, we'd love to hear from you.
📅 Applications close August 14, 2026.

For more information or to apply visit: www.micahfellowsprogram.org

A state where working families have stable housing, accessible healthcare, and affordable childcare is a state with a stronger workforce, a broader tax base, and more productive communities. Our latest article examines how the May state fiscal session and new round of tax cuts will impact ALICE families. You can read the full article by visiting www.wrfoundation.org/in-the-news

Today is the day! Taking place from 2-3:15PM ET, you can join the conversation by registering at events.zoom.us or visiting https://www.arenterprisecapital.org/ for more information.

Yesterday (June 3rd), Sherra Bennett was accoladed at the 2026 Arkansas Business 40 under 40 luncheon. This event recognizes and celebrates business and political leaders under the age of 40. She brings strategic communications to trust- and community-based social work practices. Part of Sherra’s work at WRF focuses on identifying and providing systems-change technical assistance to youth organizations in Arkansas. Outside of being the director of WRF’s ALICE Youth Leadership Coalition, Sherra’s work extends both nationally and internationally. We are immensely proud of Sherra for her continuous groundbreaking work!!

Nearly $693 million in SBA 7(a) loans reached Arkansas small businesses between 2021 and 2024. Native American-, Hispanic-, and African American-owned businesses received less than 3% of those proceeds on average.

That is a systems problem.

Partnering with Community Development Financial Institutions is one way to address it. This National Small Business Month, we are sharing our refreshed Access to Capital Report alongside a new blog on why CDFIs are the essential lever in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem that works for every Arkansan. Read both here by visiting our website: https://www.wrfoundation.org/in-the-news

What if philanthropy didn’t exist yet — and you had to invent it?
Picture a blank slate. Enormous, urgent, complex societal problems. No traditional grant-making rules to fall back on. No templates. No precedent. Just one question — how would you design the very first grant?

This webinar names the H.A.R.D. habits quietly draining grantee partners and nonprofit leaders — patterns we’ve normalized that no one would intentionally invent. Then it makes the case for W.E.L.L.: a model in which long-term, wraparound enterprise capital is deployed to help nonprofits thrive.

June 8th, 2–3:15 pm EDT. Free to attend. Register at events.zoom.us or visit https://www.arenterprisecapital.org/ for the bigger picture behind the conversation.