Managing Information with Rural America (MIRA) is a
grantmaking initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food Systems/Rural
Development program area. It seeks to draw upon the reservoirs of strength,
tenacity, and civic commitment in rural communities and to help rural
people use information systems and technologies as a tool to meet current
and future challenges. MIRA provides grants for clusters of community
teams, community support organizations, and policy support organizations
to work with electronic communications and information systems issues
in rural America. Representatives of these organizations participated
in intensive training sessions hosted by MIRA in July and August 1998,
in Battle Creek, Michigan. ACT was invited to present emeerging technologies
for collaboration, communication, and distance-independent learning.