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Dakota Rural Action (DRA) is a grassroots, nonprofit organization founded in 1987 in South Dakota. Its mission is to build leadership and promote social, environmental, and economic justice by organizing rural citizens around issues that directly affect their communities.

DRA supports sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, responsible energy development, and local control of natural resources. Over the years, the organization has been active in campaigns against corporate farming, uranium mining, and the Keystone XL pipeline. It advocates for local food systems, family farms, clean water, renewable energy, and public participation in policy decisions.

The organization operates through a network of local chapters across South Dakota and emphasizes member-led decision-making. Through education, lobbying, and community organizing, Dakota Rural Action empowers individuals to engage in the democratic process and influence policies that shape the future of rural life in the state.

The Ethical Culture Club / Forum was organized in Brookings, South Dakota in January 1906. It was then called the Ethical Culture Club; according to one of its historians. It held its original meetings on Sunday and "was to be a substitute on a basis of liberal theology for church going". These early days notwithstanding, the Forum, as it became known after October 14, 1910, was essentially a meeting for the free discussion of any topic of interest. Topics included, child labor laws, the establishment of a public library, promotion of a league to enforce peace, and the use of metric measures. Many of these topics, particularly the building of a library, actually became calls to action.

The Forum was made up of members of both the college and the town with the majority being drawn from all parts of the College. According to William Powers, Forum historian, the outside membership has been distributed among different professions, including clergymen. Membership seems to have only been limited to men, with the added provision that all members were expected at some time to present a paper.

Governance of the organization was made up of a president, vice president and secretary treasurer who made up the executive committee. There were also two standing committees for programs and for membership.

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) traces its origins to 1868, when Jane Cunningham Croly founded the Sorosis Club in New York City. In 1889, she united women’s clubs nationwide to form a national federation.

In South Dakota, the women’s club movement was spearheaded by Clara D. Coe, founder of the Round Table Club of Deadwood (1887). Coe organized the Black Hills Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1897, which joined the national GFWC in 1898. As the appointed Federation organizer for South Dakota, Coe convened a meeting on December 8, 1899, in Deadwood, and reconvened it on January 15, 1900, where the South Dakota Federation of Women’s Clubs (now GFWC of South Dakota) was formally established. The group affiliated with the national GFWC on March 1, 1900. Its first state convention was held June 14–15, 1900, in Aberdeen, with thirteen clubs represented and Winona Axtell Lyon elected president.

The organization aims to unite non-partisan, non-sectarian women’s clubs throughout South Dakota to foster collaboration and promote intellectual, moral, and social advancement. It is divided into six districts and governed by elected officers and board members, including the editor of The South Dakota Clubwoman and the Director of Junior Clubs. Committees and departments mirror national GFWC priorities in areas such as arts, education, conservation, international affairs, and public policy.

The Brookings Civic League was founded on April 12, 1912, by forty local women responding to civic needs in partnership with Mayor A. A. Harris and the Commercial Club. Early initiatives included organizing waste collection and enhancing public sanitation. The League affiliated with the South Dakota Federation in 1914 during the women’s suffrage campaign and contributed to wartime efforts by establishing the Brookings Chapter of the American Red Cross. In 1919, it helped form the City Federation of Women’s Clubs to coordinate local women’s organizations.

Throughout the 20th century, the Brookings Civic League led local improvement projects, including health campaigns, urban beautification, tree conservation, and educational support like school milk programs. It also operated a rest area for rural women and played a foundational role in creating the South Dakota Art Museum at South Dakota State University.

As municipal services expanded in the later 20th century, the League shifted focus to social and philanthropic activities. It continues this legacy through events such as the annual Craft & Collectibles Fair, which supports the South Dakota Art Museum.

GFWC Brookings was founded on March 24, 1977, as Community Federated Women and formally affiliated with GFWC in 1983. Its members were active in the City Federation and structured the club according to GFWC departments. Projects have included youth leadership programs, wellness initiatives, legislative awareness, and fundraising for South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

The concept for a state art center was first proposed under the presidency of Mrs. Herbert Kenyon (1947–1949). In 1950, the South Dakota Federation endorsed the creation of a Memorial Art Center, building on its decades-long promotion of cultural enrichment through circulating art collections. The South Dakota Board of Regents approved the placement of the center at South Dakota State University in Brookings. Fundraising yielded nearly $350,000, supplemented by a federal grant and a $55,000 contribution from the Federation. Construction began in 1969, and the Memorial Art Center—now the South Dakota Art Museum—was dedicated in May 1970.

The South Dakota Home Economics Association was founded in November 1913 when Eva Dawes, the first home economics instructor at the University of South Dakota, was appointed by Dean Parish of the South Dakota Education Association to organize home economics teachers across the state. The inaugural meeting, held in Sioux Falls, was attended by 16 teachers, and Dawes served as the association’s first president for three years.

In 1994, following a nationwide survey by the American Home Economics Association recommending updated terminology, the organization was renamed the South Dakota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

The association’s purpose is to advance education, science, and research in family and consumer sciences, establish professional standards, and provide leadership on social, economic, and psychological issues. It sponsors seminars and conferences and advocates for legislation aimed at improving home and family life.

Women Artists in Collaboration was created in 1985 at Brookings, South Dakota. It started out as a small group of women who had joined together when the Brookings Women's Center sponsored a presentation by women artists. Finding the collaboration stimulating, these women continued to work together. The group was made up of "whoever was willing to contribute" and changed from year to year. Friends of the Arts and the Brookings Women's Center provided funding for the group.