Stronger Together: Tools for Meaningful Community Engagement

Grassroots Convening 18:

Stronger Together:

Tools for Meaningful Community Engagement

September 10-11, 2014

Camp Caraway Conference Center

Sophia, NC (just outside of Asheboro)

Registration is Now Open!

Registration is FREE but required! You may register up to 3 participants from your organization.

Click the link below to register:http://grc18.eventbrite.com

Registration closes August 31.

AGENDA

DAY 1

9:30 – 10:00

Registration

10:00am - 10:35am

Resourceful Communities Introductions and Overview

10:35am - 11:00am

Networking: Business Card Swap: Swapping business cards is a great way to introduce your work and connect with other groups, volunteers, supporters and more. Attendees will practice their “elevator speech” to give the best first impression and introduction to their organization. Don’t have a business card for your community work? Don’t worry; attendees will be provided with sample business cards to use during the event!

11:00am - 12:00noon

Plenary: The Wisdom is Always in the Room: These are fascinating and often difficult times for many residents in North Carolina, especially those in rural areas. Yet, rural residents will "find a way" to make a way for themselves and their love ones. Building on this tenacity and other strengths for community action and change is the challenge and the opportunity we face in working to enhance communities.

12:00pm - 12:45pm

LUNCH

12:45 - 2:30

Coffee and Dessert with Funders and Resource Connections: At this informal session, learn about funding priorities and mistakes to avoid. Participants will have the chance to informally chat with funders and community resource groups. Bring your business card from the swap!

2:30pm - 5:15pm

Community Engagement Overview and Strategies: Participants will explore why engaging a broad range of community members is important -- how it can strengthen your organization and strategies to make it happen. We’ll look at levels of engagement and both barriers and opportunities for building relationships.

We’ll also introduce the next segment of the Healthy Communities, Healthy Organizations through Leadership series on community engagement. This series helps participating organizations better understand the opportunities and complexities of community engagement and offers support in planning and implementing effective strategies.

3:45pm - BREAK

5:30pm - 6:30pm

Dinner

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Talent Show: The Social Justice Choir will serenade us, and partners will showcase their talents!

DAY 2

7:00am - 7:30am

Hike the Trail

7:30am - 8:30am

BREAKFAST

8:30am - 9:15am

Triple Bottom Line Activity: If you’ve heard anything about Resourceful Communities, you’ve heard something about the “triple bottom line.” It’s at the root of everything we do: growing environmental stewardship, social justice and sustainable economic development. During this session, you’ll learn what the triple bottom line really means for your community – and how you might already be doing it!

9:12am - 12:15pm

Concurrent Workshops:

• Conflict Management: Managing conflict is something we all do every day, and yet, people identify better strategies as a top priority. Join us for a dynamic session with Carrboro Dispute Settlement Center’s Will Dudenhausen to practice creative ways to deal with conflict. This is not a sit-and-listen session; be ready to jump in!

• Meaningful Youth Engagement: This interactive session will highlight the YES! Youth Empowerment Model that provides a framework for community change through authentic adult-youth partnership. YES! will share best practices for effectively working with youth in community and highlight successful efforts. Come learn about how to access the untapped potential of young people!

• Equitable Partnerships: Partnerships are crucial to successful projects and sustainable organizations, but what makes a good partnership? What does an equitable partnership look like, and what happens when partnerships start to feel challenging? In this session, we will discuss what "partnership" truly means: different levels of partnerships, what makes them work, what can knock them off balance, and tools to make them truly equitable.

10:15am - BREAK

12:20pm - 12:40pm

Wrapping It Up!: Our own Sarah Guidi and Youth Empowered Solutions’ Aidil Ortiz-Hill will help you wrap up lessons learned and get ready to take them back home.

Contact Donna Pratt at 919-951-0116 or dpratt@conservationfund.org for details!

We thank the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation for their generous support.