Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and Leadership Evansville announce new VOICE dates

Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and Leadership Evansville announce new VOICE dates
“VOICE” Initiative to Gather Citizens’ Ideas for Evansville’s Preferred Future

(EVANSVILLE, Ind.) October 8, 2012 – Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and Leadership Evansville Executive Director Lynn Miller-Pease announce more visioning sessions for VOICE that include partnerships with local educational institutions, beginning with Ivy Tech Community College. VOICE is Evansville’s community-wide, citizen-driven vision process that allows community members to share their ideas, hopes and visions for Evansville’s preferred future.

Meeting Dates:
• October 10, 2012 @ IVY Tech Community College, 5:30- 7:30 p.m.
• October 29, 2012 @ University of Evansville Ridgeway University Center, 4- 6:30 p.m.
• November 14, 2012 @University of Southern Indiana Carter Hall, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Through facilitated sessions, VOICE aims to bring together diverse members of the community to discuss their dreams for Evansville in an open forum. The facilitation is led in such a way that respectful conversations will occur, all voices will be heard, and opinions will be documented, ensuring that the entire community has the opportunity to take part in creating a desired future.

“This is really about building trust amongst the members of our community and learning that if we all join together and have civil dialogue about our future desires and current issues, we can create a strong society that will thrive and grow. Through this effort, I am confident that Evansville will become a place where people from all over will want to live, work and play,” said Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.

Multiple VOICE sessions will be held throughout the year in order to obtain feedback from people of all ages, all ethnic and religious backgrounds and multiple neighborhoods.

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“I firmly believe that communities with a shared vision, and an appropriate processes to capture, record and inspire action around common goals can achieve healthier, more vibrant futures,” said Miller-Pease. “The approach we are taking with VOICE is allowing citizens to actively create and participate in envisioning their own their own future, so they can dream big and be part of making it happen.”

The VOICE Process
• Leadership Evansville will facilitate discussion sessions at easy-to-access public locations, such as Evansville Public Library System branches and Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation schools. The sessions will be advertised in neighborhood newsletters, the newspaper, television, radio and Internet.
• Comments from each session will be available to the participants and the public. A summary and detailed notes will be posted on the VOICE Web site within one week of the session.

• Once all comments are collected, additional community sessions will occur to verify that the information collected truly represents participants’ opinions.

• Then, common themes and ideas will be grouped by topic area to serve guidance for those organizations, businesses, universities, individuals and government bodies with interest in that topic to move forward with further research and planning toward a common goal.

About the Leadership Evansville Facilitation
Since 1977, Leadership Evansville has been known for its superior processes and excellence in facilitation and leadership in the community. Its programming is researched, tested, evaluated, and refined. It continues to be emulated by leadership programs around the country because it is at the forefront of best practices. The LE facilitation method brings together people with different talents, gifts, and perspectives leaders committed to using diversity and creativity for the betterment of the community. It encourages individuals to make a commitment to create a better community, and to take responsibility for making sustainable changes. These attitudes, skills, and processes are taught to adults, youth, organizations, not-for-profits, businesses, educational institutions, neighborhood associations, churches, and other leadership programs. LE’s most recent projects include facilitations for the Glenwood Leadership Academy, Indiana Supreme Court Commission on Race and Gender Fairness, and the Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana.