OPELIKA, Ala. — November 11, 2025 — Tonight, at the opening celebration of the 2025 Rural Renaissance Roadshow, Groundswell proudly announced the winners of its Rural Power Awards. The 2025 awards honored three extraordinary leaders whose community-led work exemplifies tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and long-term resilience in rural America.
The annual awards recognized rural leaders and grassroots organizations who have taken decisive action to shape their tribal nations and local communities’ futures on their own terms —uplifting local values, preserving natural and cultural resources, and investing in sustainable economic development.
“Too often, small towns and rural communities are cynically viewed as cheap land, cheap power and water, and cheap labor – radically undervaluing our people, our resources, and our quality of life in the process,” commented Michelle Moore, CEO of Groundswell. “This year’s Rural Power Awardees show there’s another way. Whether they’re saying no to development they don’t want, defying the skeptics to grow local economies from agricultural roots, or building a contemporary expression of Tribal sovereignty based on ancestral values – each of these leaders are charting their own paths to thriving futures.”
This year’s honorees spanned three states and reflected a shared commitment to standing up for local priorities — whether resisting development unaligned with local values, reclaiming tribal infrastructure and energy sovereignty, or revitalizing a rural economy while honoring community roots.
2025 Rural Power Award Honorees
Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis – Gila River Indian Community, Arizona
A lifelong advocate for Indigenous sovereignty and sustainable development, Governor Lewis was recognized for his transformative leadership in restoring the Gila River, implementing solar and hydroelectric energy, and creating new opportunities for education, housing, and public infrastructure guided by O’odham values and agricultural traditions. His administration has reconnected environmental stewardship with energy innovation while securing federal resources through groundbreaking self-determination programs.
“Within the Gila River Indian Community, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us who were the first irrigators and conservators of our resources. Each decision we make is taken with the goal of responsible stewardship and preservation for the next generations and grounded in our cultural values. This allows for innovative approaches to long-standing issues and creates opportunities for water development and conservation. The Community strives to partner with our governmental partners – at the local, state, and federal level – in a way that honors and enhances our self-determination and provides a roadmap for other tribes and communities to benefit and learn from. By utilizing our traditional knowledge create innovative opportunities, we are both honoring our past and preserving our future and being good stewards of the natural resources that are present without our homelands.”
Jason Dunn – Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County Development Authority, Georgia
An economic developer with deep local roots, Dunn received the award for spearheading a rural renaissance in Fitzgerald and Ben Hill County that is built on the region’s rich agricultural heritage of growing peanuts and timber farming. Since 2016, his leadership has brought more than $250 million in capital investment to the region while expanding workforce training, preserving quality of life, and centering the voices of community members in every step of development.
“Our community got tired of losing. Losing companies, losing jobs, losing tax digest, losing people, and losing the belief that we could be relevant. Our last decade is less than 10% of our community’s life span, yet in that decade we’ve set a course that though vast economic and social challenges are gnawing at us daily, that good hard-working rural Georgians can overcome these challenges and prove to the world the value of rural communities. Yeah, we’re small, a bit rusted, and a little more rugged than the metro areas of the country, yet at the end of the day, we’re growing the trees and producing the wood products for the homes that Americans will raise families in, you can’t make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without us, and when the worst of humanity creates a global crisis and thousands of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, our people are hard at work ensuring that Fitzgerald, GA is providing solutions.”
Tracy O’Neill – Preserve Cheatham County, Tennessee
A founding member of Preserve Cheatham County — the citizens’ coalition that successfully united neighbors, farmers, and local officials to stop a proposed methane gas plant that would have disrupted their roads, health, and peace — Tracy O’Neill represents a grassroots coalition of neighbors who organized to protect their county’s agricultural heritage. Tracy spoke on the panel, and she will give the Rural Power Award jacket to Preserve Cheatham County member Jo Ann Ray — who hosted bi-weekly meetings at her Christian Bookstore in the center of Ashland City from the group’s founding and throughout the fight. A dedicated grassroots organizer and advocate, Tracy is dedicated to protecting rural communities, farmlands, and natural resources from irresponsible development and government overreach. Tracy also now serves as the Decarbonization Advocacy Coordinator for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), where she works with communities across the Southeast to advance sustainable energy solutions.
“This recognition isn’t just for Preserve Cheatham County, it’s for all the people of Cheatham County who stood up for our farms, our forests, our wildlife, our rivers, and our right to have a voice in shaping our future. We’ve proven that rural power is people power, and protecting our way of life isn’t anti-progress, it’s the heart of it.”
The Rural Power Awards were presented during the opening night celebration of the Roadshow, which also featured music by Nashville-based recording artist Jervis Campbell. A panel discussion with the honorees highlighted how rural leaders are shaping sustainable and self-directed paths forward.
Now in its third year, the Rural Renaissance Roadshow is bringing together more than 200 local leaders for workshops, visionary keynotes, and field visits focused on rural resilience in energy, food, water, and housing. Past recipients of the awards include Curtis Wynn of SECO Energy, who was recognized for his vision and leadership as President and CEO of Roanoke Cooperative in North Carolina and as former President of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in 2023, and Mayor Jamie Heard from the City of Lanett, Alabama, who was recognized for his ongoing efforts to improve his rural Alabama community through partnerships with surrounding communities and creative outreach in 2024.
About the Rural Renaissance Roadshow
The presentation of these awards set the tone for the 2025 Rural Renaissance Roadshow: Resilience by Design. The Roadshow brings together rural leaders from across the U.S. to share knowledge, forge partnerships, and bring resources back to hard-working communities. The Roadshow equips attendees to build strong, locally led futures through inspiration, education, and hands-on sessions, including opportunities to learn more about funding and technical support. The 2025 Roadshow will take place Nov. 10–12 in Auburn/Opelika, Alabama. More details are available at www.RuralRenaissance.com.
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About Groundswell
Groundswell builds community power to strengthen local resilience for everyone and cut electricity bills in half for our neighbors who need savings the most. We use community solar, resilience hubs, and energy efficiency to preserve affordable housing, strengthen the grid, and support local economic development. Our people-centric and place-based programs are tailored to deliver tangible benefits and align with the local priorities across the Heartland, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast. Groundswell leverages our SolMateTM data platform to enable grounded scale while ensuring measurable success. We’re on track to deliver over $29 million in annual energy savings to more than 36,000 families and deploy more than 40 resilience hubs across 12 states by 2030.