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On May 5 Advance Norheast Ohio Partner met in Akron – the first time Partners have convened since ANEO’s launch in 2007. Gathering at the Taylor Insitutite for Direct Marketing at the University of Akron (also an ANEO Partner), ANEO partners set out to strengthen relationships with each other and explore opportunities for collaborating on behalf of the region. ANEO partners include representatives from the civic sector, public sector and business; their diverse perspectives of the work and their role in driving our region’s economic competitiveness is impressive. The challenge at hand is defining HOW Partners will lead Advance Northeast Ohio and regional cooperation. The short take away based on initial feedback is that the HOW is a big question to answer.
Over the next few weeks and months the Fund will work with Partners to explore the HOW and your thoughts are also important in this discussion.
You can watch videos from the Partners meeting here.
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# Submitted by Georgia Reash -… on Wed, 05/07/2008 – 13:45.
Georgia Reash
With great gratitude, I thank Advance NEO for taking this important action step of bridge building and awareness raising this past Monday. The more this venue is replicated and expanded (on multiple levels of communty life) the more energy is rallied around a deeper understanding of regionalism; i.e. loyalty to the region. Hosted at the top levels of government, or in the basement of the local church, this “renewed visioning” will pick up where Voices for Choices left off and set the stage for exciting action steps toward REAL and DEEP change making.
We are moving toward new practices and attitudes toward collective participation; or, as we call it, cooperative reciprocity. These are just big words for “working together in way that everyone wins”. Regardless of the verbage, the key word is “together”.
The power of Monday was found in the ‘together synergy’ – finding common ground, agreeing on common aims, charting common goals. In this cooperative milieu, we begin to see that regionalism (loyalty) is not only beneficial from a cost perspective, but it just feels good. And right. More importantly, it is the world we now live in.
I was most impressed with how many people actually “got it”. The heads of corporations understood schools matter; government leaders understood the importance of early childhood development; politicians understood the value of academic study; investors understood the need for diversity training. All in all, the bridges that were built in that one afternoon changed our future. As every single action can.
MY ACTION STEP is do what I can do further the synergistic momentum; top down and bottom up.
As we move towards collectively defining both THE WHY and THE HOW, we have an opportunity to do things completely differently and this, my friends, is the catalyst for transformation.
