The purpose of the Chattanooga Venturing Study Group is to learn from Venture about how to engage and mobilize community members for inclusive, positive, sustainable change. Participants in the study group represent a wide range of efforts and initiatives to improve our community, which can cause things to be fragmented, inconsistent, and uncoordinated. The power of Venture was its open visioning process coupled with dedication and means to turn talk into action, to make things happen, to instigate change by acting together, collaboratively, including: A bank of trained facilitators to support the process A simple, flexible, fair process for gathering input A team of "connected champions" leading the effort Open, quasi-public spaces Small to large group public goal setting Support and buy-in from those in control of resources Task forces for goals I think the Study Group should refocus on actively applying lessons from Venture, starting with "listening to the voice of the community.” And I think we should intentionally reorganize as a network rather than just an informal, leader-led group. We do not have the resources to create an organization like Venture but we can apply its practices. We can and should do what it did! As a network, we would all work in a connected yet independent manner, informed by and in support of each other. I don’t think we can really learn about Venture without actually doing community venturing. That starts with understanding common challenges and shared visions, with listening to people and letting them know they have been heard, that their input matters. It’s really about connecting, creating, learning, and sharing to achieve our goals, address our issues and needs, tap our opportunities and resources. Right? Reorganizing as a network doesn’t really require a change in what we’re doing, it just means doing it more intentionally and purposively. It means recognizing that we are part of something bigger and more impactful than a specific cause, that all good causes complement each other. The role of the network is to connect various initiatives, to guide and support those that generate community value, that achieve our goals, address our issues and needs, tap our opportunities and resources. The first step is to start listening, to establish the means and process for connecting with people, hearing the voice of the community, identifying challenges and seeing a shared vision. What do you think about refocusing on doing, starting with listening, as a network? Personally, it’s where I want to go and what I plan to invest in. I think it’s still important to preserve knowledge from Venture, and the network should support that, but we should really focus on doing what Venture did without requiring or waiting on a formal organization to do it. We'll discuss on Tuesday but share your thoughts in the meantime! — Greg Laudeman, Ed.D. Executive Officer and Principal Eduity, LLC www.eduity.net greg@eduity.net 706-271-5521