Imagine a networking project that feels like a matchmaking service. Organizers get to know you and your community, and then find someone somewhere else in the state for you to get to know and collaborate with– based on your interests and work. You meet your match in their hometown alongside dozens of other exceptional young leaders, spend a weekend getting to know their culture and environment, and then map out a plan to collaborate on a project. You start working together, then you host them and they come to know your place and your passions. Together, you design a project that responds to the needs of your communities and helps shape a new vision for the state of Kentucky. That’s the premise of an Art of the Rural collaboration in Kentucky that’s rapidly gaining national acclaim.