Pathways from Poverty is a public policy education and research initiative organized by the Rural Sociological Society's Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty and the four regional rural development centers. This publication focuses on project efforts in the Northeast and includes three sections. The first section describes the Pathways from Poverty Workshop for the Northeast Region (Boston, Massachusetts, September, 1995); reviews the history of the project, which aims to create innovative pathways from poverty for rural people and places through collaborative state teams; and profiles four researchers and visionaries. These profiles describe the life and work of Gene Summers ("Up from 'the Bottoms,'" by Eileen Zuber); Virginia Schein ("Dancing with Words: An Afternoon with Virginia Schein," by Eileen Zuber); John Gaventa ("Searching from Within," by Pete Saba); and Leif Jensen ("Bridging the Gap," by Steve Nelson). The second section includes seven presentations from the 1995 workshop: "Working from the Margins: Voices of Mothers in Poverty" (Virginia E. Schein); "Working Together for a Change: Social Capital As a Pathway from Poverty" (John Gaventa); "Demographics of Rural Poverty" (Leif Jensen); "Work and Income Overview" (Ann Tickamyer); "Poor Kids in a Rich Nation: Eating the Seed Corn" (Patricia Garrett); "Human Capital and Poverty in Rural America" (Daniel Lichter); and "Where Do We Go from Here?" (Kenneth E. Martin). The final section describes the state Pathways from Poverty teams and 64 poverty programs in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia. These programs provide leadership training, summer educational opportunities for youth and children, support for community development, support for small business development and entrepreneurship, adult literacy and computer literacy, community supported agriculture, community health services, parenting education for youth and high-risk families, services for migrant families and children, job skills training, family services, rural housing development, nutrition education, support for postsecondary attendance, opportunities for community service learning, and temporary shelter. Includes a program index. (SV)