Designing rural futures, together
We support small-town leaders to imagine, develop, design, and build social infrastructure that reflects local culture and strengthens community life in rural, Indigenous, and remote places.
We believe rural and Tribal communities deserve access to high-quality design support that honors local knowledge, strengthens cultural infrastructure, and builds long-term capacity.
Social infrastructure includes the places where community life happens—community centers, libraries, clinics, cultural facilities, food co-ops, and other shared spaces that foster connection, celebration, and care. When these spaces are purpose-built and rooted in local culture, they strengthen community resilience and help communities weather change.
We believe that small rural communities deserve the same quality of planning, design, and development support as urban areas—delivered in ways that are culturally grounded, context-specific, and led by local priorities. Our work helps communities move from idea to action, turning bold visions into fundable, buildable, and locally-owned projects.
Epicenter Summit, Green River Utah. PC TBD
Building Common Ground is a group of designers, leaders, and advocates working to strengthen the built environment of rural communities.
Eastern Shoshone Powwow, Ft. Washakie WY. PC TBD
Communities are experts in their own places. BCG supports—not replaces—local leadership and decision-making. Paragraph Projects begin with stories, history, and cultural meaning before form-making or technical solutions.
Mt. Zion Black Cultural Center, Athens, OH. PC TBD
Design Workshop, Grenada, MS. PC Rory Doyle
Mural In Frederiksted, St. Croix, PC TBD
Experience Learning, Spruce Knob, WV. PC TBD
Engagement is respectful, and attentive to power dynamics, capacity constraints, and local realities. paragraph Deliverables prioritize usefulness, accessibility, and real-world application over abstraction.
Mt. Zion Black Cultural Center, Athens, OH. PC TBD
Mural In Frederiksted, St. Croix, PC TBD
Fieldwork, a new program for rural and Tribal communities that provides customized design, planning, and project development support.
We help rural communities and organizations move from idea to action, centering culture and local leadership at every step. Our goal is to help communities turn bold ideas into locally owned, culturally grounded projects.
Davis, WV. PC TBD
Rather than delivering pre-set solutions, Fieldwork works alongside communities to clarify goals, organize ideas, and move projects forward at a pace that reflects local capacity and priorities.
From Spring 2026 through December 2027, a national cohort of up to 20 rural and Tribal communities will participate in an intensive, collaborative design and planning process that translates local vision and cultural knowledge into actionable, place-based projects.
Fieldwork is intended for rural community leaders and cultural organizations working on projects that tell meaningful stories, honor local identity, and strengthen places where people gather.
Up to 20 selected communities will receive support to:
- Plan and design cultural and civic spaces rooted in local context
- Engage residents and partners in shaping project direction
- Strengthen project readiness through planning activities, funding strategy, and leadership development
- Work alongside peer communities facing similar challenges and opportunities
Will partner with rural, Tribal, and remote communities on projects, including:
- Restoring or reusing older buildings for cultural uses such as museums, cultural heritage centers, or community gathering places
- Creating or improving public spaces that celebrate local culture and identity
- Designing new museums, cultural centers, archive facilities, or other community serving spaces
- Creating exhibition spaces or public displays that tell local stories
- Developing collaborative, humanities driven projects that preserve, interpret, and activate the cultural, historical, and environmental significance of specific places
Groups that meet the following criteria are encouraged to apply:
- Communities with a population of 35,000 or less
- 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, fiscally sponsored groups, municipalities, or Tribal governments
- Individuals are not eligible to apply
Fieldwork is supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program.
Our approach is grounded in trust, partnership, and long-term commitment.
We meet communities where they are and stay with them as projects evolve—often over years, not months. We combine coaching, technical expertise, and shared learning to reduce risk, build local capacity, and increase the likelihood that projects succeed.
Reciprocity
Common Ground
Stick-to-it-ness
Mud on boots
Reciprocity
Common Ground
Stick-to-it-ness
Mud on boots
Chip Thomas mural in Green River, UT PC Danny Baxter
Our work centers people, place, and long-term partnership. We support communities not just to imagine what’s possible, but to carry it forward.
Design is how we help rural and Indigenous communities turn stories, history, and values into tangible, community-owned places. We use design as both a practical and cultural tool—clarifying ideas, building readiness, and creating fundable pathways from vision to implementation. Through participatory, place-based design, we strengthen local leadership, honor identity, and shape spaces that support connection, resilience, and long-term community life.
Housing and Park Space Master Plan, Sunnyside, WA. PC OB Cruz
We search for common ground across differences, helping rural, tribal, and remote communities build culturally rooted social infrastructure that strengthens connection, resilience, and community life. BCG brings together core organizations alongside a wide circle of advisors spanning rural advocacy, design, and community development.
To Be Done Studio
To Be Done Studio (TBD), based in Washington, D.C., and co-lead for Building Common Ground: Fieldwork, is a mission-driven architecture and design firm with deep experience in participatory design across rural America. As the national design lead for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, TBD supported dozens of communities in shaping inclusive, actionable strategies for public space, cultural projects, and housing.
Epicenter
Epicenter, a rural 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Green River, Utah (pop. 847), will serve as a co-lead for Building Common Ground: Fieldwork, and host the national Summit. For over 16 years, Epicenter has demonstrated what it means to do design with care—deeply rooted in place, built on trust, and sustained through creative persistence. Their award-winning work in housing, the arts, and community development has become a national model for what is possible in politically conservative, economically under-resourced rural communities.
Circle of Advisors
A wide circle of BCG advisors amplifies the impact and capabilities of Building Common Ground’s core team members, programs, and communities. Composed of a hand-picked group of rural activists, advocates, artists, organizers, and technical specialists, advisors provide their unique expertise and experience to inform approach, business development, fundraising, governance, programming, or project strategy.
To Be Done Studio
To Be Done Studio (TBD), based in Washington, D.C., and co-lead for Building Common Ground: Fieldwork, is a mission-driven architecture and design firm with deep experience in participatory design across rural America. As the national design lead for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, TBD supported dozens of communities in shaping inclusive, actionable strategies for public space, cultural projects, and housing.
Epicenter
Epicenter, a rural 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Green River, Utah (pop. 847), will serve as a co-lead for Building Common Ground: Fieldwork, and host the national Summit. For over 16 years, Epicenter has demonstrated what it means to do design with care—deeply rooted in place, built on trust, and sustained through creative persistence. Their award-winning work in housing, the arts, and community development has become a national model for what is possible in politically conservative, economically under-resourced rural communities.
Circle of Advisors
A wide circle of BCG advisors amplifies the impact and capabilities of Building Common Ground’s core team members, programs, and communities. Composed of a hand-picked group of rural activists, advocates, artists, organizers, and technical specialists, advisors provide their unique expertise and experience to inform approach, business development, fundraising, governance, programming, or project strategy.
We're builders, designers, and advocates working alongside rural and Indigenous communities to turn shared visions into lasting places.
Building Common Ground brings together practitioners who believe small towns deserve the same quality of planning, design, and development support as anywhere else, delivered with care, rooted in place, and led by local priorities
Omar Hakeem, AIA
Award-winning architect Omar Hakeem works alongside rural, Tribal and frontline communities—from the Gulf Coast to Tribal Land in Wyoming—advancing affordable housing, disaster recovery, and climate-ready design. He is Founder and Principal of To Be Done Studio.
Maria Sykes
Maria Sykes is a designer and nonprofit leader advancing rural investment for over a decade. As Executive Director of Epicenter in Green River, Utah, she champions community-driven design in small towns across the West.
Courtney Spearman
Courtney Spearman is an advocate for design, arts, and culture in rural and Tribal communities. Formerly at the NEA, she led national design initiatives and supported small towns through the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.
Omar Hakeem, AIA
Award-winning architect Omar Hakeem works alongside rural, Tribal and frontline communities—from the Gulf Coast to Tribal Land in Wyoming—advancing affordable housing, disaster recovery, and climate-ready design. He is Founder and Principal of To Be Done Studio.
Maria Sykes
Maria Sykes is a designer and nonprofit leader advancing rural investment for over a decade. As Executive Director of Epicenter in Green River, Utah, she champions community-driven design in small towns across the West.
Courtney Spearman
Courtney Spearman is an advocate for design, arts, and culture in rural and Tribal communities. Formerly at the NEA, she led national design initiatives and supported small towns through the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.
Mika Yamaguchi
Mika Yamaguchi is an architect from Maui committed to participatory design in cities, rural places, and island communities. Rooted in psychology and cultural awareness, she advances equitable housing, transit, and public spaces across the U.S. and Pacific.
Brandon Robles
Brandon is a designer exploring architecture’s social and environmental stakes, centering community stewardship in practice. Their work spans affordable housing and civic projects, pairing new construction methods with care for the places and people they serve.
Caitlin MacKenzie
Caitlin helps rural and Tribal communities turn locally driven ideas into funded, buildable projects. Blending capital strategy, facilitation, and design, she moves community projects from vision to ribbon-cutting—grounded in trust and local leadership.
Natalya Dikhanov-Juswigg
Natalya applies architectural research and strategy to environmental, social, and water justice. Her work spans housing, arts spaces, and large mixed-income developments across the U.S. and Germany, grounded in equity and systems thinking.
Jamie Horter
Jamie is an artist in rural Nebraska. She helps communities, artists, and organizations bring ideas to life through process design and facilitation. Her work helps people gather well and create together.
Mika Yamaguchi
Mika Yamaguchi is an architect from Maui committed to participatory design in cities, rural places, and island communities. Rooted in psychology and cultural awareness, she advances equitable housing, transit, and public spaces across the U.S. and Pacific.
Brandon Robles
Brandon is a designer exploring architecture’s social and environmental stakes, centering community stewardship in practice. Their work spans affordable housing and civic projects, pairing new construction methods with care for the places and people they serve.
Caitlin MacKenzie
Caitlin helps rural and Tribal communities turn locally driven ideas into funded, buildable projects. Blending capital strategy, facilitation, and design, she moves community projects from vision to ribbon-cutting—grounded in trust and local leadership.
Natalya Dikhanov-Juswigg
Natalya applies architectural research and strategy to environmental, social, and water justice. Her work spans housing, arts spaces, and large mixed-income developments across the U.S. and Germany, grounded in equity and systems thinking.
Jamie Horter
Jamie is an artist in rural Nebraska. She helps communities, artists, and organizations bring ideas to life through process design and facilitation. Her work helps people gather well and create together.
Our advisors are rural activists, artists, organizers, and technical specialists who bring unique expertise and expand what's possible in the communities we serve.
This hand-picked circle of practitioners brings deep expertise across design, advocacy, and community development, informing our approach, amplifying our impact, and strengthening the work we do alongside communities.
Matt Smith
Matt Smith advises mission-driven organizations on strategy and operations. A Loeb Fellow at Harvard and former Managing Director of MASS Design Group, he strengthens the systems behind community-centered design.
Alyssa Kreikemeier, PhD
Dr. Alyssa Kreikemeier is an environmental historian at the University of Idaho working across Indigenous studies, public history, and cultural landscapes. Her scholarship connects environmental humanities with community-engaged practice.
Joseph Kunkel
Joseph Kunkel, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, is a community designer advancing sustainable development in Indigenous communities. At MASS, he leads the Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab in Santa Fe.
Jamie Horter
Jamie Horter is a rural advocate, artist, and facilitator based in Lyons, Nebraska (pop. 851). She uses art to spark inclusive, intergenerational dialogue and decision-making in rural communities across the Midwest.
Lisbet Portman
Lisbet Portman is a cross-media communicator with 15 years in nonprofits at the intersections of health, education, and environmental justice. At Ashoka US, she identifies and supports social entrepreneurs driving systemic change.
Chris Lezama
Chris Lezama is a design strategist shaped by years in rural Green River, Utah, where he co-led a design-driven nonprofit. Now at CivicMakers, he advances user-centered social innovation with curiosity and edge.
Matt Smith
Matt Smith advises mission-driven organizations on strategy and operations. A Loeb Fellow at Harvard and former Managing Director of MASS Design Group, he strengthens the systems behind community-centered design.
Alyssa Kreikemeier, PhD
Dr. Alyssa Kreikemeier is an environmental historian at the University of Idaho working across Indigenous studies, public history, and cultural landscapes. Her scholarship connects environmental humanities with community-engaged practice.
Joseph Kunkel
Joseph Kunkel, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, is a community designer advancing sustainable development in Indigenous communities. At MASS, he leads the Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab in Santa Fe.
Jamie Horter
Jamie Horter is a rural advocate, artist, and facilitator based in Lyons, Nebraska (pop. 851). She uses art to spark inclusive, intergenerational dialogue and decision-making in rural communities across the Midwest.
Lisbet Portman
Lisbet Portman is a cross-media communicator with 15 years in nonprofits at the intersections of health, education, and environmental justice. At Ashoka US, she identifies and supports social entrepreneurs driving systemic change.
Chris Lezama
Chris Lezama is a design strategist shaped by years in rural Green River, Utah, where he co-led a design-driven nonprofit. Now at CivicMakers, he advances user-centered social innovation with curiosity and edge.
Whether you're a community leader with a project in mind, a potential Fieldwork applicant, or someone interested in partnering with our team, we'd love to hear from you.
Reach out to start a conversation:
We typically respond within a few business days.