At our disposal is millions of dollars from the federal government and national foundations. All it takes is SHARED VISION, some good writing, and a higher value on the common good.
I’ve carefully watched the evolution of Voices for Choices, The Fund for Our Economic Future, Advance Northeast Ohio, JumpStart, Team NEO, One Community, and – now – the Northeast Ohio Citizens League. From an objective professional’s perspective – everyone seems to agree on the value of regionalism, partnership, and the role each can play at that table of dicussion. But, we fall short in mobilzing our own deeper partnerships that have the potential for raising new dollars and creating sustainable innovation.
Stepping back from the constant state of politics, what has truly begun to percolate over the past four years in Northeast Ohio is the stuff of a national model. We are at the beginning of a twenty year cycle of revitalization – and our start has the makings of best practice research. We are landmark, and we are all NOW a part of that identify. Dare we see ourselves worthy, now?
Let us have foresight long enough to see this different vision of what is happening.
Let us go beyond our own worlds, frought with self interest and the fear of losing power.
Let us realize we are doing something that has never been done before.
Let us practice what we believe.
As both a company dedicated to individual, organizational and community capacity building (inclusive of raising new dollars) I see all around me the missed opportunities for bringing in national and federal monies. I think it is because we are just learning how to work together on common issues, and raising money is a little too close to home for most folks. It is, after all, one thing to share technology and quite another to share the pot at the end of the rainbow.
