About the Summit

The inaugural AscendRural Summit was held on September 23-24, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over two days, rural leaders, entrepreneurs, and healthcare innovators came together to forge a bold new vision of rural well-being.

Through presentations, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, this event focused on the critical issues surrounding mental health and explored how technology can address the unique barriers faced by rural communities.

A massive “thank you!” to all attendees, sponsors, and partners for coming together at the Summit to build a future where every rural community in America can thrive. Visit the link below for a full recap.

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Scenes from the 2024 Summit

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What people are saying

  • “The AscendRural Summit was inspiring, thought-provoking, and more than I could have even asked for! Having the opportunity to spend two days with a room of people passionate about addressing mental health and rural health challenges (both for Minnesota and the entire country) has given me some tremendous motivation to get some stuff done!”

    — Taylor McPartland, ScaleHealth

  • “The work that AscendRural is doing is so core. It is in line with bringing together cross-functional leadership in different ecosystems to meet, discuss, collaborate, and build relationships. In just a short amount of time, I was able to meet some really wonderful people with whom I’ve traded info and hopefully find ways to collaborate in the real world.”

    — Mary Grove, Bread & Butter Ventures

  • “All of the panels and speakers were excellent and even for topics that I don't traditionally work under generated ideas and opportunities for my organization to consider.”

    — Anonymous attendee

  • “AscendRural is not a conference, it’s a community. From the inspiring guests and their stories [...], I walked away truly impressed. I’m also grateful to have met some incredible people who I look forward to building friendships with.”

    — Anthony Monroig, Koa Health

  • “The AscendRural Summit has been inspiring — what a commitment by Sourcewell! Great speakers and finally a focus on rural mental health.”

    — Laura Murray, Ph.D., CETA Global Inc., and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Our 2024 sponsors

We’re grateful for the support we received from our sponsors and partners during the 2024 AscendRural Summit. Their commitment and investment are helping us create a better future for rural well-being!

Contact us

Have questions or want to get in touch with us? Please fill out the form below or email us at info@ascendrural.org.