How Public Conversations Can Lead to More Diverse Leadership
In today's world, it is more important than ever to have a diverse group of leaders representing our communities. Research shows that a diversity of perspectives, expertise and life experiences leads to innovation, better decisions, and economic success in organizations and communities. There are many pathways to diversifying leadership. However, many communities struggle to accomplish this.
Here are three stories about how one Vermont community’s public conversation and problem solving efforts led to the emergence of a new, more diverse group of community leaders. I hope these stories will encourage you to create spaces in your community for people to come together, find their voice, and step into leadership.
All Aboard for Downtown Essex Junction - Representative Lori Houghton
In 2010 our little Main Street was not doing well. The area was full of empty storefronts, broken windows and used drug paraphernalia. Public officials had not been able to solve these problems and there was a feeling among residents that we needed to come up with a plan. A public forum was organized to talk through this. One of the people in the room that night was Lori Houghton. Lori was fairly new to the community. She hadn’t been involved in the past but lived right near Main Street and was frustrated with the situation. During the meeting Lori and others imagined what might be possible and hatched the idea of creating a downtown farmers market. The idea was met with enthusiastic support among meeting participants and within a few days Lori was busy organizing a grassroots effort to create a farmers market. The Five Corners Farmers Market was a huge success and brought lots of people into town on Friday nights. This was the start of a big turnaround for our town. From there Lori went on to win an election as a village trustee (one of few women who had ever held that office). After several successful terms as a trustee, Lori ran for state office and continues to serve as a Vermont State Representative
Voices for Education - Jamaal Hankey, Project Manager, VIEW
In 2016, a school and community coalition called Voices for Education (VFE) formed to help the community establish a shared vision for the future of the new Essex Westford School District. Jamaal Hankey was a high school student when he participated in a community dialogue series about the school system. During these dialogues, Jamaal had an opportunity to share some of the challenges he experienced as a student in the district. The people in the room that day included school board members, parents, and educators. They were deeply moved and disturbed by what they heard and became champions for change. Encouraged by this experience, Jamaal went on to join the VFE coalition. As a coalition member, Jamaal authored a widely distributed summary of the group’s community engagement work, conducted conversations with school leaders, and facilitated small group dialogues during a community equity summit. Jamaal, a recent graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, is now serving as the Project Manager for VIEW (Voices for Inclusion in Essex & Westford). Through Jamaal's leadership, residents participate in events that promote inclusion and strengthen the community by providing an opportunity for people to consider community issues through the various lenses of the people who live here.
It Takes A Village - Representative Rey Garofano
Rey Garofano immigrated to the U.S. from Iran in the 1980’s and came to Vermont in 2005. Since then, Rey has had a successful career working for the State of Vermont. Even so, Rey hadn’t been connected to the public life of her community until she found her voice during a series of community dialogues to shape the future of the new school district. Her participation in these conversations sparked a desire to use her voice to create much needed change. She stepped forward to lead small group dialogues during a community equity summit. From there, Rey became an effective leader and advocate for the community’s equity work, serving as a board member with VIEW and a member of the Essex Westford School District’s equity advisory committee. Rey’s leadership has been essential as EWSD has withstood a national backlash against its work to create an equitable learning environment for all students. Rey’s effective leadership led her to be appointed to the Vermont State Legislature to fill a vacancy, and then to successfully win an election. Rey continues to serve as a Vermont State Representative.
These three community leaders showed up to a conversation, shared their stories and their ideas, were listened to, and then stepped forward into leadership. It has taken several decades for the profile of our community leaders to shift from a homogenous group of older white men to a much more diverse group, including an all female delegation to the Vermont House of Representatives in the Essex and Westford districts.
Well designed public conversations are one important catalyst that can help new leaders emerge. We need more of these spaces.
Here are three things to keep in mind when bringing the community together
Plan your conversations with a diverse organizing committee to ensure relevance and accessibility
Include time for people to share their stories and get to know each other
Structure the process to ensure that participants to have access to power and decision-making
It takes work and intention to create opportunities for community conversation and problem solving, especially during these contentious and polarized times. But I hope you give it a try. We need leaders with diverse perspectives and experiences to help us solve the significant challenges we face. Creating opportunities for people to experience the power of their own voice in a public conversation is one strategy that can help us get there.