About | Our Mission, Partners & History | Resilient Futures Co-Lab

ABOUT US

The people and partners behind the work

OUR WHY

Why this work, and why now

Across Southern Appalachia, communities are absorbing shock after shock — economic, ecological, climate-driven — often while the value they create drains away faster than it comes back. We started Resilient Futures Co-Lab because the region's challenges are connected, so the response has to be too.

We're a place-based, collaborative economic transition initiative rooted in Southern Appalachia, with a starting focus on the Mountain and Piedmont counties of North Carolina. We're not a single project, fund, or program — we're a long-term regional effort to build economic, ecological, and social resilience that holds.

We bring together communities, entrepreneurs, businesses, nonprofits, government, and aligned capital partners to design and steward the conditions a resilient regional economy needs: one that's regenerative, equitable, and durable in the face of accelerating change.

WHAT WE DO

Day to day, that means:

Supporting

locally rooted initiatives and leaders

Aligning

capital, relationships, and resources across sectors

Connecting

efforts across communities and initiatives

Investing

in critical infrastructure, future-facing industries, and gaps in value chains

Our work is grounded in a deep commitment to Southern Appalachia, learning collaboratively, and embedding shared stewardship of the region’s future.

WHO WE ARE

Our Collaborative Partners

We are led by a cross-organizational partnership whose members bring complementary expertise across systems change, capital innovation, community engagement, and regional economic development.

Metabolic

A global sustainability innovation organization specializing in systems change, circular economics, and place-based economic transitions. Metabolic provides the transition design expertise, capital orchestration, and technical capacity that form the foundation of the Co-Lab's approach.

metabolic.nl

Blueprint for Impact

A North Carolina–based nonprofit with deep roots in the communities we serve. Blueprint helps shape the Co-Lab's strategic direction and brings the long-standing regional relationships and local trust that keep the work grounded in place. We also bring impact media to support this initiative.

Blueprintforimpact.earth

Envision Charlotte

A North Carolina-based nonprofit advancing circular economy and sustainability initiatives across the Charlotte metropolitan region. Envision Charlotte contributes network intelligence, circularity expertise, and strong regional relationships that connect the bioregion's urban and rural economies.

envisioncharlotte.com

Dark Matter Capital Systems

A specialized firm focused on the design of innovative, community-centered capital structures. Dark Matter contributes expertise in financial instrument design and blended capital strategy that help direct investment toward durable, community benefit.

darkmatterlabs.capital