Community Voice

THE POWER OF CONNECTION AND A BOLD GOAL

After the panel discussions, the afternoon was devoted to tabletop discussions on how to better develop and incorporate youth voice and leadership within each school community.

Collaboration, open and honest dialog, and creating space for all voices to be heard are critical to reaching our community's Bold Community Goal:

BY 2035, ALL ASHEVILLE CITY AND BUNCOMBE COUNTY STUDENTS GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL READY AND FULLY PREPARED TO PURSUE THEIR GOALS AND DREAMS.

And if this convening was any indicator, this network is well on its way.

COMMUNITY VOICE

For 100 years, alongside hundreds of volunteers, we have raised a tremendous amount of money that we were able to then invest in local nonprofits that were addressing a wide range of issues related to Education, Income, and Health.

Over the course of our history, we’ve made a variety of important improvements to our investment process. Leaning on our guiding principles, we listened to our community, particularly those most impacted by the issues we seek to address. It became clear that we needed a new strategy.

With guidance from GRID Impact, a global design firm, community members and our staff worked together to design a new way to invest in our community, one that centers authentic and equitable community participation in all stages of decision-making. This means that those most impacted by the issues are at the decision-making table.

The process included three phases

• Research - 17 interviews with funded partners, parents, educators, and local community leaders helped to build a picture of grantmaking experiences, opportunities, and new ideas

• Co-creation - involved 33 educators, community organization and nonprofit representatives, and community members who came up with ideas to move us forward in new ways

• Prototyping - additional community members, including our board of directors, donors, community leaders, educators, and government officials, then prioritized the ideas that had been developed

This fall we will pilot one of the prototypes. It's an exciting time in our history and we are glad to have you by our side!