Lowcountry Local First
Charleston, SC
Challenge
Lowcountry Local First is Charleston, South Carolina’s award-winning, nationally-recognized economic development agency promoting the importance of locally-owned, sustainable businesses. In 2020, leaders of the organization were looking to deepen the organization’s commitment to economic equity by empowering its constituents to identify issues and drive solutions. They contracted with Community Allies and Prospera Partners to lead an all-day workshop to train staff in facilitation and community engagement strategies.
Approach
Our team saw the training as an opportunity to both provide content and demonstrate what a community-empowered process can look like. After initial conversations with the executive director, we reached out to the staff directly to identify what they were hoping to accomplish and where they were facing hurdles in reaching their engagement goals. We involved staff and leadership in several rounds of design for the training session to ensure it would be most valuable for them.
We structured the session on an “I-We-It” model, with activities that promoted individual growth, team cohesion, and movement building. Staff explored the difference between roles as staff, leaders, and facilitators, and the distinct approaches they might take for each. We showed them how to map communities to ensure that those most impacted by a decision are empowered in solutions and hosted community meeting activities that harvest the wisdom of groups and allow all voices to be heard. The session ended with an opportunity for them to explore their fears about community empowerment and facilitation and ask us direct questions about how to handle situations they found intimidating.
“Our team often found ourselves in the position of facilitating groups of business owners, advocates and partners but lacked the technical skills to do so in the most effective way. Community Allies provided us with techniques for convening, listening and insuring that all at the table were heard.”
Results
Following the training, staff reported feeling significantly more confident in their ability to engage community well, both individually and as a team. When the organization’s founder and longtime leader departed less than a year later, the transition was smoother because the remaining team was deeply embedded in and trusted by the community.
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