Community Food Leaders 2010
Want to learn more about food and farms in the Gorge?
Looking to start a community garden or farm to school project in your neighborhood?
Want to meet other like-minded folks who care about where their food comes from?
Become a Gorge Grown Community Food Leader!
This FREE two-month training program, run by Gorge Grown in partnership with Oregon Food Bank and WSU Horizons, will teach you how to move from talk to action and make positive change in your community. This winter, the training is available for residents of The Dalles, OR and Stevenson, WA. Evening classes will be held at local sites separately and weekend classes will be held jointly at a central location to facilitate regional resource sharing. Topics to be covered include:
Food Systems 101: Who, What, How, Why
Moving from Talk to Action
Making Meetings Work
How to Plan and Execute a Community Food Project
Building Community Partnerships
… and more!
Anyone who lives in or near The Dalles, OR or Stevenson, WA is eligible to participate!
The course covers 9 weeks for a total of 36 hours of training – 7 3-hour weeknight sessions and 3 5-hour Saturday sessions. Travel stipends and child care are available free of charge, and snacks and meals will be provided. Participants who complete the entire course of training earn the designation Community Food Leader!
Course Schedule: March 6 – April 24
Stevenson: Tuesdays, 6-9 PM
The Dalles: Thursdays, 6-9 PM
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Applications have closed for the Winter 2010 series. Stay tuned for future class offerings!
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Class Schedule:
WEEK 1 - Saturday 1: Module 1
Finding Leaders Within
- Identifying your own leadership skills
- What is a food system? Farm to fork and everything in between
- What are community food projects?
- Community Food Assessment Highlights: The Local Picture
WEEK 2 - Weeknight 1: Module 2
Identifying Community Assets
- The asset-based approach to community development
- Identify and prioritize local Community Food Project ideas
- Fundraising 101
WEEK 3 - Weeknight 2: Module 3
Managing Groups for Results
- Storytelling, Personal Identity, and Group Dynamics
- Active Listening
- Addressing Poverty and Racism
WEEK 4 - Weeknight 3: Module 4
Making Meetings Work
- Meeting Nuts and Bolts
- Negotiating Consensus
- Methods for identifying and prioritizing options
WEEK 5 - Weeknight 4: Module 5
Managing Conflict
- Function and causes of conflict
- Conflict resolution strategies
WEEK 6 - Weeknight 5: Module 6
Building Strategic Partnerships
- Managing the risks and challenges of community partnerships
- Partnership nuts and bolts
WEEK 7 - Saturday 2: Module 7
Moving from Talk to Action
- Three Phases for Talk to Action
- Project Management Nuts and Bolts
- Guest Speaker: Sharon Thornberry, Oregon Food Bank
WEEK 8 – Weeknight 6: Module 8
Valuing Evaluation
- Why Evaluation?
- Evaluation Step-by-Step and Examples
WEEK 9 – Weeknight 7: Module 9
Communicating for Change
- Communication Methods
- Message Development
- Working with the Media 101
WEEK 10 – Saturday 3: NEXT STEPS
GRADUATION
- Where do we go from here?
- GRADUATION / PARTY!
- 3 hour session, NOT 5 hour session
Portions of the training curriculum come from the nationally recognized LeadershipPlenty curriculum: LeadershipPlenty is a program developed by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. It is designed to equip citizens with skills like effective communication, conflict management, and partnership building that they can use to work together as community leaders. Leadership at its core is about change - within individuals, within organizations, and within communities.
LeadershipPlenty operates on two premises. First, it is about the plenty of talent in communities that often goes unused or unasked. And second, it is about the "we" not the "me." The skills learned are intended primarily to help you and your fellow citizens work together better for the common good. They are practical and applicable today and down the road.
We are able to work with the LeadershipPlenty curriculum for these trainings thanks to a partnership with WSU’s Horizons program, through which engaged local citizens from several Skamania and Klickitat County communities attended LeadershipPlenty training sessions and who are now excited to pass along their skills to their fellow community members across the Gorge.
This project is funded in part by a Grassroots Grant from Meyer Memorial Trust. We are deeply grateful for their support!
