![2018-2019 Civic Engagement Leadership Graduates and Process Facilitators, Jennifer Davis (left) and Octavia Seawell (right) [GASTON TOGETHER PHOTO]](http://honorsofdistinctionmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ghows-NC-8d80426c-7129-72a6-e053-0100007f0fa2-f6cd391a.jpeg)
In 2015, community leaders asked Gaston Together to consider creating a potential future pool of leaders for Gaston County. Tired of seeing the same faces at community meetings and on civic boards of directors, they saw a need to expand the community’s efforts to identify and prepare young adults for future leadership roles. In addition, trends showed that Gaston County’s population was aging — very few younger adults were moving to Gaston County.
In response to this two-fold community request to
1) address leadership growth for Gaston County
2) attract and retain younger adults in our county, Gaston Together did its homework.
The Gaston Together Leadership Team began a process under the leadership of then Chair Deborah Ally to research all current leadership efforts for the target audience in Gaston County and identify gaps if any in satisfying these requests and to avoid duplication of efforts.
Once the research phase was complete, three components were identified that were not already part of any other current leadership efforts in Gaston County. With those components as the guiding force, the purpose of this new leadership initiative would be to establish a pool of potential future leaders for Gaston County accomplished through a process of community building, increased knowledge of Gaston County and personal skills/ personal awareness development. A process designer, Octavia Seawell, OZS Consulting, was hired to design the process. She and Jennifer Davis, Jennifer P. Davis & Assoc., were hired as the process facilitators.
From the outcomes of the research/development phase, Gaston Together created the Civic Engagement Leadership process. This process is based on three primary principals.
1) The belief that self-discovery, relationship and community building across many different sectors of Gaston County will increase an individual’s ability to engage and assume a leadership role in our county.
2) The belief that a greater awareness about the community (its past, present and future) will increase an individual’s ability to engage and assume a leadership role in our county.
3) The belief in the value of experiential learning in an environment where participants feel safe to express themselves and to explore and practice in the skills of communication and civic dialogue – listening and not just hearing; speaking and not just talking – will increase an individual’s ability to engage and assume a leadership role in Gaston County.
A Pilot Class of the Civic Engagement Leadership (CEL) process was conducted in 2017. It consisted of eight sessions (four 8-hour and four 6-hour sessions). The process was designed for young adults aged mid-20s to mid-40s with a class size of 20 to 25 participants. Intentional effort was made to create a mini-community of participants to mirror the demographic make-up of Gaston County including the sectors of gender, race, ethnicity, geography, work sector, etc. Twenty-five participants enrolled for the sessions. Twenty-one of those graduated in November 2017.
The pilot class participants established the top five focus areas that would influence their decision to remain in Gaston County and also help them encourage other young adults to choose Gaston County as a place to live, work, play and learn. Based on these focus areas, they created scenarios of the future as considerations for community development and involvement in civic engagement.
The outcome of the pilot class was very positive based on the goals of the process. CEL created a group solidly connected to each other which accomplished community building. The graduates had more self-awareness as leaders based on data from pre and post process surveys which accomplished personal skills and awareness development. Last, CEL created a core group that wants to be further engaged in Gaston County which was built on a greater knowledge of Gaston County and exploration of its future possibilities.
It was anticipated that it would be 3-5 years before graduates would become actively engaged in the community. As young adults, they were at a point of starting families and building careers; however, the members of the pilot class challenged themselves to begin serving on at least one non-profit/community board of directors by the end of 2018. They have more than met that goal. They are currently serving on the boards of directors of Junior Achievement, Gaston Together, the Gaston Clergy & Citizens Coalition Executive Committee, Gaston Together’s Leadership Team, Salvation Army, Thunder Cats Volleyball Executive Board, one graduate chairs the Chamber’s Professional Women’s Association, once has just been installed as the new president of the Junior League of Gaston County, one will be installed as the President of The Rotary Club of Gastonia, they serve as Leadership Gaston Mentors, are actively participating with the Gastonia FUSE project business development and more. They have also met with community leaders to share their scenario stories for Gaston County’s future developed during their CEL sessions.
Lessons learned from the Pilot Class included changing the session calendar to coincide with the school calendar, August to May. Increasing the session hours to 6 full-day and 2 half-day sessions. It was also decided that an individual coaching session would be of benefit to participants since the CEL sessions are built around group experiential learning for the most part.
The 2018-2019 class completed sessions in early May. Twenty participants graduated on May 30 at an event at the Gaston Country Club. Each graduate was given the opportunity to say a few words about what has been of value to them from this process. Family, friends and business associates were in attendance to be a part of this special celebration. Just as the Pilot Class, these graduates are already becoming much more active and engaged in their community and at work.
The research, development and launch of CEL would not have been possible without the vision and foresight of several foundations and donors. Early on in the development phase, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation stepped forward to be the first investor in this process. The Duke Energy Foundation, David Belk Cannon Foundation, First Gaston Foundation, Carrie E. & Lena V. Glenn Foundation, the Rauch Family Foundation and PSNC Energy (now Dominion Energy) quickly joined in the support of this leadership initiative. Others who have seen the value in this vision and process to create a pool of potential future leaders for Gaston County and are supporting CEL as Fellowship Sponsors are Parkdale, Inc., CaroMont Health, Charlie and Helene Pearson, TJ Solomon Family Fund and McLean Family Fund.
Applications are currently open for the 2019-2020 Class. To access the application process, contact Gaston Together, 704-867-9869 or email dlockett@gastontogether.org
