South Cumberland Community Fund and Sewanee’s Office of Civic Engagement Announce Make Lasting Connections Symposium to be held April 20
Community, business, and nonprofit leaders as well as members of the public are invited to attend the “Make Lasting Connections Symposium,” celebrating 10 years of deepening collaborations for community change on the South Cumberland Plateau. The event will take place at the Sewanee Inn on Wednesday, April 20. National leaders in rural community development, workshops in organizational development, and opportunities to form collaborative groups to compete in a $50,000 grant round will all be on the schedule.
The symposium will deliver inspiring talks from accomplished professionals about social change, including Karen Proctor, Founder/Principal, Harbour Workshop LLC; Linsley Kinkade, senior program director for U.S. programs at Winrock International; and Whitney Kimball-Coe, national programs director for the Rural Assembly at the Center for Rural Strategies, who will deliver the keynote address. Kimball-Coe is a widely known leader in rural development, having spoken at the Aspen Institute and the Obama Foundation Summit.
Workshops will focus on the processes of building collaborative projects for social change, from project design to project assessment and developing data to action practices. Participants will learn about SCCF's 10th anniversary grant round, which will award grants in response to proposals that involve the work of two or more applicants and focus on collaborations that make lasting change. Applicants must attend the Symposium in order to be eligible for the “Make Lasting Connections” grant.
“The ‘Make Lasting Connections’ grant round is an exciting new asset for the community that has been directed by the South Cumberland Community Fund board,” noted Tom Sanders, executive director of SCCF. “We really hope that many will join us for the exciting symposium and will be inspired to work with others to accomplish great work on the Plateau in the coming year.”
Speakers will emphasize the idea of collaboration throughout the day. Proctor will focus on the collaborative process. Kinkade will lead a team from Winrock International that presents inspiring stories of community development success in other rural areas in the South. The Winrock team will conduct workshops on the process those communities followed and are continuing to follow in their community development work.
The all-day symposium will include breakfast and lunch.
