Rural Strategies Welcomes Madeline Matson as New Rural Assembly Director

The Center for Rural Strategies is pleased to welcome Madeline Matson as the new Director of the Rural Assembly.

Matson was most recently Executive Director of the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco, Washington, and is a co-founder of Rethinking Rural, an organization aimed at uplifting and connecting rural millennials across the country.

“Rural needs compassionate, thoughtful, empowered leaders more than ever to push back against harmful narratives and stand up for what rural places actually need and want,” Matson said in a Q&A with the Rural Assembly. “I am very excited to travel the country and meet more rural people and connect over our shared joys and struggles. I want to put my skills and passion to work but that all starts with listening and learning.”

She succeeds longtime Rural Assembly director Whitney Kimball Coe, who will stay with the Center for Rural Strategies in a different capacity while engaged in studies at Yale Divinity School.

“As I pursue a call to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, I carry the Rural Assembly with me. I’ll continue to work with the Center for Rural Strategies on programs that engage rural faith leaders and communities,” Kimball Coe said. “The Rural Assembly, meanwhile, welcomes a new director, Madeline Matson, who has been a longtime friend, collaborator, and mentor of mine in the rural advocacy field. I am so excited for this next chapter in the life of the Assembly, and for the wisdom, skill, and generosity Madeline brings to the potluck.”

Matson was raised in rural Washington state, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. Her childhood, she said, was “filled with volunteering, community events, and service.” She was five years old when she began volunteering at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum. She went on to study journalism and multimedia studies at the University of Oregon, open a bakery, and run for public office.

Matson helped found Rethinking Rural in 2016, and partnered with Rural Assembly on projects including the Rural Women’s Summit in Greenville, South Carolina in 2019.

Read the full Q&A with Matson on the Rural Assembly website.