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March 2026

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Chattanooga Venturing: We have the solutions. What are our challenges?
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. March 16, 2026

March 16, 2026

One of the most important, empowering lessons from Venture is that we have the solutions, we just don’t know it because we don’t have shared understanding of the challenges. This gap keeps us from appreciating our resources and making the most of our opportunities. To identify the solutions we need to know what matters to our family, friends, neighbors, ourselves, and all of us. To get a great solution, understand the purpose first. The Chattanooga Venturing Study Group seeks to answer this question: what are our goals, issues, needs, opportunities, and resources as a community? How can we build, improve, and strengthen our community? We are going to adapt and adopt Venture’s general framework to ask people about the challenges and their visions for each and all: People - care, education, and wellness for all Place - our built and natural environment Play - our arts, culture, and recreation Purchase - our earning and spending power Public - essential services that benefit all Of course, these topic areas are intertwined as well as multifaceted. Venture was successful because it capitalized on these characteristics of community issues. Our first topical dialog, next Monday, March 23rd, at 5:30 PM, will address this “meta-issue” along with environmental conservation and education, how to appreciate our natural and historical assets. The focus will be on Moccasin Bend and the Tennessee River but the implications are much larger. The precursor to Venture, the Moccasin Bend Task Force, was all about Place but touched on every other area. Local business and civic leader Sally Robinson, who was a founding member of the Moccasin Bend Task Force and deeply involved with various aspects of Chattanooga Venture, will anchor the dialogue. Andy Wood, President & CEO of the Tennessee Aquarium, will address the significance of the river for our community, how the Aquarium addressed the issue of environmental conservation and education, and how it is engaging the community to continue that mission. The nature of Moccasin Bend as a culturally significant, historic site and its status as an addition to our local National Parks are primary concerns for National Park Partners, as is community engagement, which Tricia King Mims, Executive Director, will discuss with us. Please join us for this important dialogue and share with others who are interested in the topic! Register online to attend "Moccasin Bend, the River, Conservation, and Community Engagement” by clicking here. <https://luma.com/kieooku0> Do you have an issue you care about, a group you're working with to change our community for the better, or resources you feel could be better utilized? Let us know! Click here to fill out our online interest form <https://cloud.eduity.net/apps/forms/s/KbHkwnS9TtBcBb5fSNFoKmA8>. Let’s figure out how to find the best solutions “the Chattanooga Way”! — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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Chattanooga Venturing Dialogues and more!
by Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. March 3, 2026

March 3, 2026

Thank you to everyone who attended our first dialogue on February 23rd, especially Ron Littlefield, as well as David Littlejohn, Karen Rennich, Kevin Roig, and Jill Weitz. We got some important and useful insights about how and why to do community engagement along with recent examples. David and Jill, in particular, shared about exciting initiatives that are all about engaging the community. All in Chattanooga <https://www.allinchattanooga.org/neighborhoodcircles> is establishing Neighborhood Circles—small, informal groups of neighbors who meet in each other's homes across Hamilton County to build community power and create change. All In helps launch each group, facilitates the first meetings, and provides ongoing support and resources. Chattanooga National Park City <https://www.chattanooganationalparkcity.org/> is looking for “Seeds”—place-based, actionable, repeatable projects designed to improve the quality of life for all of us, by connecting us more to nature, that invite real collaboration across our community. They will kickoff National Park City Seed Drive this Thursday, March 5th at 5:30 PM at the iFixit headquarters, 812 E 12th St, Chattanooga, TN 37403. The purpose of the Chattanooga Venturing Study Group to learn from Chattanooga Venture and related initiatives about how to engage and mobilize community members for inclusive, positive, sustainable change. What are we building? An online platform for community venturing: An initial version is online now. We need people to help add content, configure the system, and moderate. Email me if you are interested. A series of dialogues about how Venture worked and its results. Our next dialogue will be Monday, March 23rd at 5:00 PM, and will focus on environmental conservation and education, specifically Moccasin Bend and the Tennessee River. Find out more about our events and register online at https://luma.com/ChattanoogaVenturing. Watch videos of speaker sessions and other events at https://vimeo.com/showcase/11773651. Regular meetings to discuss learning objectives and share progress. To participate in the Study Group, complete the interest form online at https://cloud.eduity.net/apps/forms/s/KbHkwnS9TtBcBb5fSNFoKmA8. We want to include others in our learning! Feel free to share this email with others and encourage them to join the email list at https://list.chattanooga.digital/mailman3/lists/cvsg-news.list.chattanooga.…. — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg(a)eduity.net 706-271-5521

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