Missouri Main Street
Ozark, MO
Challenge
Missouri Main Street Connection supports Main Street programs across the state in revitalizing older and historic commercial districts in neighborhoods and towns. Typically, the local Main Street organizations are tiny. To build capacity and engagement, local directors need the support of organized and inspired leadership from within the community, including strong boards and staff, volunteers, and community partners.
Missouri Main Street hired Community Allies to design and facilitate a one-day, leadership training in Ozark, MO. "Cultivating Leadership Within Your Community" gathered more than 40 leaders from across Missouri who wanted to develop the crucial skills that would elevate leadership within their communities to amplify their efforts.
Approach
To ensure the training was tailored to the needs of the participants, Community Allies first surveyed constituents to find out which topics would be most useful. From their responses, we developed a program that centered around identifying and cultivating potential leaders in the community, governance models for effective boards of directors, and telling the story of Main Street work in a way that uplifts and inspires.
The training was designed to be highly interactive, with a mix of presentations, personal reflection, hands-on exercises, and small group work, as well as drawing on research on and best practices for leadership development. We facilitated deep sharing around leadership challenges such as board dynamics and how to motivate volunteers, and prioritized personal leadership development, with activities designed to help participants identify and leverage their specific leadership strengths. To ensure they implemented what they learned, we ended by asking participants to think of one "unexpected" person in their community in whom they might cultivate leadership, and to devise actionable next steps for empowering that individual.
Results
In a post-event survey, 100% of workshop participants responded that the workshop was valuable and productive and provided actionable tools. Participants reported feeling not only moved to action, but well-equipped to identify and cultivate leadership in community members.
“Great session with great information to take back to put to use.”
Put Community Allies to work for you
Share this story: