Appalachia is a broadly defined cultural and geographic region stretching from New York to Alabama, comprising 13 states and 423 counties. The region is rich in beauty and natural resources, but it faces significant public policy challenges. Now, thanks to a generous gift from Richard (McIntire ’78) and Donna Tadler (Ed ’79), a cohort of 12 students from the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy are poised to make a big difference in the economic future of rural Southwest Virginia.

The Tadlers’ gift has created a year-long fellowship program for Master of Public Policy students who will work to support economic development partners in the region. The Tadler Graduate Fellowship in Impact Investing offers an innovative educational opportunity for Batten students interested in issues involving rural policy and impact investing. In practice, this includes deploying innovative investment strategies made with the intention to generate positive, measurable, social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.

The inaugural cohort of Tadler Fellows will be working throughout the school year with rural community leaders to reinvigorate local economies in Appalachia, learn about impact investing, and apply innovative finance to support on-the-ground policy work.

Through the fellowship, students have been paired with local government and nonprofit organizations tackling a range of policy areas including rural economic development, education, health care, energy, a just transition to a carbon-free economy, and affordable housing.

Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics at the Batten School and director of social entrepreneurship at UVA

“The Tadler Fellowship comes at a critical moment for Appalachia, which faces significant public policy challenges,” said Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics at the Batten School. “The inaugural cohort of fellows have the opportunity to provide transformational change for the region through their work with local government and economic leaders.”

She added: “It’s been wonderful to launch this fellowship with UVA alumni who have seen the power of the private sector and who recognize how we need policy leaders who can bridge the gap between effective local and state policymaking and investments from the private sector.”

The Tadler Fellows will work directly with municipal administration officials, regional planners, nonprofit executives, and other rural community leaders to build their capacity, secure external funding, and help local economies thrive. For many students, the Tadler Fellowship represents an unprecedented learning opportunity to work on public policy issues they care deeply about.

“I am most excited to better understand financial modeling and processes to build the capacity, reach, and accessibility of cross-sector investment,” said Sophie McGinley, a post-graduate MPP and former city planner from Oregon. “By working on place-based policy analysis, we will need to balance best practice with tailoring policy approaches to our specific communities. I am also enthusiastic about leveraging local relationships for the potential to implement programs and policies that are able to live on past the fellowship’s duration and be carried on by our community partners.”

The cohort together at UVA Wise.

Over three days in August, before the academic year began, the cohort came together on Grounds and traveled together by bus to Wise County, Virginia, where they talked with local economic development leaders from UVA Wise and the greater region, met their clients, and attended a Jeffersonian Dinner.

For one fellow, Savannah Hundley, traveling to Southwest Virginia meant returning to the region where she grew up in a small mountain community. Hundley’s upbringing in the region led her to apply for the Tadler Fellowship.

“My family has been personally impacted by the lack of development and infrastructure, lack of adequate health care and educational opportunities, and lack of quality jobs in the region,” she said. “I have seen firsthand the living conditions and disparities the Appalachian region faces. This background has made me passionate about trying to address the issues the region faces and learn more about possible policy solutions. The Tadler Fellowship offers a unique and rare opportunity to do this and give back to a region that has been largely ignored and exploited in the past.”

The cohort meeting in the Rotunda.

On Grounds, the fellows engaged with experts in economic development in rural America, including representatives from the Brookings Institution, the White House Rural Partner Networks, and two community development financial institutions serving the commonwealth—Virginia Community Capital and Appalachian Community Capital. The fellows will continue meeting with state policymakers and rural economic leaders throughout the school year.

“The hands-on policy experience offered to Batten students through this program is phenomenal,” Batten School Dean Ian Solomon said. “Donna and Richard Tadler, both active and devoted alumni, are giving Batten students the opportunity to learn about and apply innovative finance-focused policy solutions that will foster economic growth for some of Virginia’s most at-risk and underfunded communities. We are incredibly grateful for their generous gift to Batten, an investment that will surely have a profound and lasting impact for our school, our students, and the regional partners they will work with.” Reported by Ryan T. Strand (Batten ’24)