The Golden Ticket

Rome was not built in one day nor by one person...

Our Village Centennial Celebration came and went spectacularly, absent of my grandiose aspirations:
* Use Tamarack’s 1000 Conversations template to investigate the notion of community with our local senior population.
* Have internationally exhibited photographer John Beebe capture portraits of these invaluable historians.

Creative visions of print and online Centennial keepsakes, showcasing exquisite photos paired with their heartfelt insights about community lingered on my crowded design boards. Thank goodness, along with intense inquisitiveness, I am stubborn. Business sense told me it was wise to connect with a national project… so I persevered.

An unwise community development strategy would be for me to spearhead the project in isolation and facilitate the conversations individually. When connections between people are created and strengthened, community capacity is built. When one person holds the lion’s share of connections, an instable and unsustainable situation results.

Votes were cast and Municipal elections had shifted the local climate. A sincere interest in rebuilding and deepening relationships between government and the citizenship was emerging. Could Village Council utilize the 1000 Conversations initiative as a tool to foster these relationships and independently contribute the local findings to the national project? The answer in short: NO!

Rachel Brnjas (Tamarack Community Animator) tactfully pointed out that participants may not feel comfortable expressing true feelings about community challenges in the presence of government. Impartial facilitation and a neutral environment where everyone is equal, included and accepted is essential for open, honest input. Back to the design board in search of the Golden Ticket.

The Golden Ticket…
Perseverance, progressive group action and enthusiasm paid off in November 2013. Tamarack, through their 1000 Conversations to Shape our Future initiative, offered the Village of Delburne an elite partnership opportunity!

all arrows SAME DIRECTION

Imagine if all sectors, within all silos, of all stakeholder groups harmonized to travel in the same direction at the same time. An impossible utopia? Frankly, our community lacked the leadership excellence (formal and informal leaders) required to achieve this bliss.

A solution arrived fall 2013 on account of outstanding foresight and advocacy by our Economic Development Committee. BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER awarded the Village of Delburne as a lighthouse community. This initiative has been launched to grow Community Leadership Capacity in Rural Alberta.

"BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER is a 15 WEEK, competency based, community and professional leadership development program. If you would like to see an increase in volunteerism, greater community ownership and pride, increased business profitability, improved performance for yourself and those around you and the strengthening of your community’s resiliency, then BECOMING A COMMUNITY BUILDER is for you and your community." -- Ian Hill (Humanitarian, Business Leader, Award Winning Social Innovator)

From here to forever, this innovative training is available FREE to an UNLIMITED NUMBER of our community members! I highly recommend signing up.