Yes! We Rise logo
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Podcast and coaching for
community change-makers
building a brighter future, together

Welcome to Yes! We Rise

Now more than ever, our world needs brave, visionary leaders to create positive change on a global scale. We need individuals and community organizers to rise up and build a future that allows our granddaughters and grandsons to thrive.

At Yes! We Rise, we have solutions.

You already have the power to make a meaningful impact. We’ll get you inspired and show you how.

If you’ve ever wanted to make a bigger difference inside your own community, or you’ve struggled to imagine what it would look like for you to create a more sustainable life and world, the Yes! We Rise podcast, coaching and retreats are for you.

Check out our upcoming retreats at the tab above!

Episode 61_NoParachutes with Emma and Kara

Listen to Our Latest Episode

What does it look like when a nonprofit stops parachuting in and starts following a community’s lead? In this episode, Christine sits down with longtime colleagues Emma Kelly and Kara Dotten of the New Economy team at Appalachian Voices. Emma lives in Lee County and Kara in Wise County, both rooted in the coalfields of far Southwest Virginia. Through the Community Strong initiative, they’ve walked alongside five small towns—Dante, Clinchco, Pennington Gap, Pound, and Dungannon—listening, returning, and listening again, until residents’ own priorities became a reality. Ideas turn into funded projects including: a flood-prone, abandoned grocery building demolished to make way for a flood-mitigating park, a historic train depot on its way to becoming a solar-powered resilience hub, and an aquatic center celebrating the Clinch River carrying a beloved mayor’s legacy forward.

Emma and Kara share hard-won lessons on building trust: respecting the hyper-local wisdom of each place even when you’re from the region, showing up messy and honest instead of polished, compensating residents as the experts they are, and committing to communities “in perpetuity, as long as they want us.” They also open up about leaving and coming home, the humor and pride of people living Appalachia rather than touring it, and how they stay grounded (and avoid burnout) in work that always feels urgent. It’s a warm, wise, and practical conversation for anyone who wants to help their community rise from the ground up. Welcome to the Yes! We Rise Podcast!

Listen to episode 61

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PODCAST EPISODES

Episode 55: Embracing Love Over Fear with Freddy Jackson

Episode 55: Embracing Love Over Fear with Freddy Jackson

Episode 55: Embracing Love Over Fear with Freddy Jackson Listen to the podcast on your favorite platform: Apple    Spotify Episode 55: In this episode of the We Rise podcast, Christine Gyovai interviews Freddy Jackson, who shares his journey of personal growth,...

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