Mission Ridge, Art of Community, collaborating on community discussion series. First up: Our Valley Our Future
I am excited to announce that The Wenatchee World and Mission Ridge Ski and Board resort are collaborating on a community discussion series that is intended to foster a stronger sense of community in our valley and provide a constructive forum for talking about important issues. The first Mission Ridge Community Conversation will be held on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 5:00 to 7 p.m. at the lodge.
I’m honored to facilitate the conversation, as part of my Art of Community NCW blog and podcast. My guests will be Steve Maher, the coordinator of Our Valley, core team member and Stacy Luckensmeyer of Wenatchee Valley College. They will be joined by Dr. Gene Sharratt and Dr. Sue Kane, who are leading the effort to develop a Research and Innovation District in the valley. Kane is co-executive director of the Apple STEM Network and Sharratt heads the Educational School Districts Association.
We will discuss the origins of the Our Valley effort, the innovative approaches the group used to tap into the wisdom of the community and learn what people value, and the community members who worked to translate those values into actions.
Our Valley is a unique approach that helps all of us find ways to engage in strengthening and participating in our community. They have discovered a powerful way to engage the whole community rather than leave progress in the hands of a few leaders.
I’m also excited that Sharratt and Kane will be talking about the exciting potential of one major game changer — the development of a research and innovation district, which is expected to be a significant economic driver for North Central Washington in years to come.
This event is open to the public. It’ll be an informal discussion aimed at teasing out lessons that we can learn about how to make our valley a better place to live.
I’m pleased to be working Josh Jorgensen, Tony Hickok and Delcie Proffitt from Mission Ridge. Mission Ridge’s desire to be a part of strengthening community is fully supported by owner Larry Scrivanich.
If I can figure out the technical challenges, I plan to post the interview as an episode of my Art of Community NCW podcast (artofcommunityncw.com). For more information on Our Valley, Our Future, check out ourvalleyourfuture.org.
Hope to see lots of people there.
Gene Sharratt
Stacy Luckensmeyer of Wenatchee Valley College
