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munity leadership. Currently, I have developed a few relationships and personal contacts with community based organizations. Those organizations that have developed relationships with the Mission Heights Preparatory have established and maintained a relationship with the new principal. I need to reach out to establish more relationships for the benefits of our students and the school. How would you improve our community leadership? My focus for community leadership would be on the educational aspect. The focus in education is concentrated on accountability and testing, curriculum and instruction, and improving teaching. My experience and observations have led me to develop community partnerships to help promote literacy and achievement. Those partnerships with community groups are needed to develop resources to boost student achievement. The values and expectations of the family as well as the community affect student motivation. We need to use the whole child approach for each learner to experience success. Other comments of community leadership: I believe communities and educational leaders need to work together to provide family support and
involvement, business support and resources, volunteers and advocates, and other needed support structures to schools and educators. As educators, we need to reach out to our community as allies to foster a culture of achievement.
Shea Nieto What does Community Leadership mean to you? To me, Community Leadership means actively taking part in improving the general welfare of the community. From improving economic conditions, to helping enhance the quality of life for your neighbors, to coming up with ideas whose implementation will have a positive impact on generations to come. Describe the state of current Community Leadership Current Community Leadership is out there now, but I think it is fragmented. There are many different causes and special interests – each competing for finite resources, time and sometimes money. Most of these organizations have active, capable leadership. However, unifying and visionary leadership that drives what kind of community we want to be is hard to find. I attribute much of this to the fact that city and organizational leaders simply
have more complex issues to deal with than their predecessors. How would you improve our community leadership? I would improve community leadership by making it inclusive and transparent. For the most part it already is, but many times, we don’t find the best and most someone has to offer until we ask for it. Proactively seeking new leadership and narrowing the focus of what that means from a community perspective, i.e., defining the term ‘Community Leadership’ is key. Inviting proactive approaches and expansive ideas in a setting that promotes critical thinking, but does not hinder creativity through conflict, is important when trying to get the best from people. Other comments of community leadership: Specialization is something that can prevent good leadership from being able to thrive. As our communities have evolved and grown, special interests have garnered the talent and resources of very effective leaders. A side effect of this is that competing interests can cause gridlock, paralyzing effective progression of the larger community as a whole. A fragmenting of talent can cause a lack of cohesiveness and shared goals among different groups.
Steve Stahl What does Community Leadership mean to you? Community leadership means that one puts their needs secondary to that of the community. This type of leadership requires listening twice as much as you are talking and means listening for the “core” issues. This allows the core issues of the community to be addressed. Describe the state of current Community Leadership. The state of our current Community Leadership in the “Golden Corridor” is still very young but diverse. There is a wide diversity in long standing members of the community who don’t want things to change versus the new members who want change and want it now. Some of these changes include traffic plans, development planning of both residential communities and commercial, flood mitigation and many others. Community Leadership is finding itself in the middle with few answers to please both sides. How would you improve our community leadership? I recommend Comcontinued on page 68...
DAVID FITZGIBBONS
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hat does community leadership mean to you? Community leaders identify shared values, community issues and goals; they offer the common perspective on important issues and bring people together to resolve our issues in line with our values. Community leaders listen and then, offer a thoughtful, creative vision. Community leaders give of their time, talents and treasure to build a better community. They understand our past, diligently work in the present, and keep the promise to posterity. Community leaders personify the Churchill axiom: “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” Described the state of current community leadership: lacking. Between 2003 and 2009, the following occurred: Casa Grande
THE LEADERSHIP EDITION
transitioned from a “town” to a bustling bedroom community of Phoenix, where people “drove to qualify” until the real estate bubble burst; the seemingly endless population growth that fueled our economy, dissipated, and the newspaper filled with foreclosure notices. The Great Recession blanketed this area, affecting not only our economy, but our thinking. Everything turned pretty dark. Fear set in. People lacked confidence in the future. Our focus narrowed from our community and enhancing it, to our own families, businesses, employees and trying to weather our personal storm. John McEvoy, John Hemmings and Donovan Kramer Sr. died. As a community, we hunkered down, lowered our heads, and weathered the storm. Although, in the last couple years, some of
us have raised our heads and see brighter days, no new leadership emerged. How would you improve our community leadership? First, we need to face, squarely, our past. We need to listen to our neighbors, get feedback, and understand. Next, we need to be creative and identify common ground and opportunities to collaborate between the private sector and government. Third, community leaders need to coalesce around a creative, shared vision. Finally, our actions must allow each member of our community fair access to economic opportunities for the basics: jobs, housing, education, transportation and health care. Each community member must know that if they work hard, they have a chance to make a better life for their family and their descendants.
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