An opportunity presented itself in mid-2019 for IMPACT to apply to be selected for the community catalyst program initiated by the UCA Center for Economic and Community Development, sponsored by Entergy Arkansas, and partnered with Mississippi State University. The program would provide training and planning guidance for community residents to become leaders in realizing their community's vision. The training would focus on Strategic Doing, which teaches people how to form collaborations quickly, move them toward measurable outcomes and make adjustments along the way. A modern day, group project management crash-course.
We found out in November that we weren't selected for the program...because we were too far ahead! After selecting the other communities and comparing where they were at in community development practices, they felt our area was much further along and was "best practice" for much of the guided planning work. So, they instead agreed to fund our Strategic Doing training seminar which we attempted to offer for free exclusively to a group of 40 resident leaders. The COVID-19 outbreak and CDC recommendations prevented our group from meeting together, but we continued with the training of 10 leaders, at least one from each hub area, who will asst in a series of trainings to take place once the guidelines for meeting are expanded.
The Independence County Strategic Doing Action Pack can be found here.
Those who attended the training are:
Crystal Johnson
Jamie Rayford
Kyle Christopher
Jennifer Douglas
Christopher Steele
Landon Downing
Tammy Gavin
Jeff Owens
Amanda Roberts
Amy Finster
A special thank you to Entergy Arkansas for sponsoring the training opportunity. Entergy has been a supporter of the process and our grassroots planning process in Independence County since we began in 2015.
