Director of People Operations and Culture October Ambrose

As the Director of People Operations and Culture, October is an advocate for the organization — its staff and its leadership — as well as a sponsor for culture building, values development across the organization as it matures.

Rachel Barra
Community Manager Rachel Barra

Rachel is a Community Manager at RISI, working with the Rural Innovation Initiative consulting team as they help rural communities  develop digital tech economies.

Technical Writer Dani Blaise

In her role on the broadband team, Dani enjoys learning from her colleagues and assisting with mission-driven writing and editing projects that expand broadband access and help alleviate societal inequities in rural communities across the country.

Data Analyst and Developer Camden Blatchly

As a member of the mapping and data analytics team, Camden develops software to analyze and communicate data about rural communities.

Brandon Campbell
Regional Director of the Southeast U.S. Brandon Campbell

As the regional director, Brandon leads the organization’s overall expansion strategy in the southeastern U.S.

Anderson Clayton
Broadband Analyst Anderson Clayton

In her role on the broadband team, Anderson assists rural communities in finding pathways for broadband expansion to unserved and underserved communities.

Controller Mike Daly

Mike manages all aspects of accounting, financial reporting, and development of financial polices and procedures for the organization.

Communications Specialist Austin Danforth

Austin Danforth is a seasoned storyteller, photographer, and editor who honed his skills over more than a decade as an award-winning journalist.

Matt Dunne
Founder and Executive Director Matt Dunne

Matt is the founder and executive director of the Center on Rural Innovation, which he launched in 2017 to reverse the nation’s growing rural opportunity gap and create economic prosperity for small town residents across the country.

May Erouart
Research Analyst May Erouart

As part of the research team, May is involved in knowledge-gathering projects about rural America. Previously she helped guide Rural Innovation Initiative communities through developing strategies for thriving digital economic ecosystems.

Nora Foote
Head of Tech-Based Economic Development Nora Foote

Nora works directly with communities to help them develop strategies for building thriving digital economy ecosystems. She’s a rural community enthusiast, and loves getting to discover new and diverse communities across the country.

Thomas Franco
Head of Federal and State Partnerships Thomas Franco

Thomas is an experienced public policy professional working at the intersection of economic development, emerging technology, and equity-focused social policy.

Placemaking Fellow Lisa Glover

As the Placemaking Fellow, Lisa collaborates with community members in rural downtowns to develop placemaking plans around their innovation hubs so that everyone in the community feels welcome and empowered.

Dalila Hall headshot
Operations Manager Dalila Hall

Dalila works behind the scenes at the organization and provides support across all teams to ensure they have the resources to accomplish their work. She is focused on helping the organization codify policies and procedures as it grows in its mission.

John Hall
Software Developer John Hall

John has been coding professionally and personally for over a decade. Although he has specialized in web mapping and visualization for most of that time, his skills range from scripting simple utilities to crafting fullstack applications to spec.

Veronique Husser
Finance Manager Veronique Husser

Veronique manages the finances, payroll, and accounting for the CORI and RISI teams and strives for her work to empower all team members to become positive contributors to the organizational mission.

Data Fellow Brittany Kainen

Brittany is a member of the mapping and data analytics team. As a data fellow, she supports efforts to gather, interpret, and communicate data that assists the organization in its service to rural communities.

Myles Kamisher-Koch
Broadband Consultant Myles Kamisher-Koch

As a member of the broadband team, Myles actively engages with public and private stakeholders in the development of broadband solutions to serve rural communities across the country.

Head of Broadband Consulting Alex Kelley

Alex leads the team’s efforts to help communities plan new fiber networks by building feasibility models, creating business plans with capital stacks that take advantage of state and federal subsidies.

Robin Kilfeather-Mackey
Director of Finance and Operations Robin Kilfeather-Mackey

Robin oversees the financial infrastructure and organizational strategy of CORI and RISI, a role that includes the design and management of finance practices, prioritizing and evaluating business development new opportunities.

Senior Data Engineer Olivier Leroy

Olivier Leroy is data engineer in the mapping and data analytics team. He is fluent in several data languages and ready to serve well-documented and fresh data in all pipeline flavors.

Community Manager Lizette Lewis

Lizette guides and engages communities to support them in developing strategies for building innovative tech economy ecosystems. Liz is passionate about connecting with diverse and underrepresented communities nationwide.

Dolley MacDermot
Research Associate Dolley MacDermot

As a Research Associate, Dolley supports web development, mapping and data visualization efforts, along with general IT infrastructure. Dolley has years of experience working with web based technologies and social impact organizations.

Zack Nolan
Director of Strategic Operations Zack Nolan

Zack leads special projects related to finance, operations and organizational strategy. Zack’s prior experience spans both the nonprofit and private sectors. Most recently, Zack worked at EY-Parthenon as a strategy consultant.

Community Manager Nick Poels

In his role on the Rural Innovation Initiative team, Nick supports rural communities with the development and implementation of strategies to build and scale tech economy ecosystems.

Molly Pyle
Head of Entrepreneurship Molly Pyle

Molly supports rural communities as they develop and grow strong entrepreneurial ecosystems, creating scalable tech startups in rural America.

Drew Rosebush
Data Analyst Drew Rosebush

As a member of the mapping and data analytics team, Drew develops data tools to help define and execute analytics for the organization.

Head of Data Products Betsy Thompson

Betsy leads the Mapping and Data Analytics team supporting the organization’s efforts in data visualization, mapping, and web development.

Rose Vieland
Entrepreneurship Consultant Rose Vieland

Rose designs and implements programs and content to instigate rural tech startup creation and scale.

Broadband Analyst Anna Vold

Anna is a member of the broadband team. As an analyst she works with other members of the broadband team to support projects that organize and plan for broadband deployment in rural areas.

Nathan Willingham
Head of Federal Grants Nathan Willingham

Nathan is Head of Federal Grants for RISI. He is an experienced planner, a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and has worked in rural community planning and economic development since 2004.

Broadband Analyst Jane Woodson

As an analyst, Jane works with other broadband team members to develop plans for broadband deployment in rural communities. She is excited to see how strong internet infrastructure enhances the unique facets of rural life.