Good Evening,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. My family and I enjoyed the holidays with my 92 year old grandmother. We are blessed to have her and she loves to let us know! 

Like last week, my update for this week is also rather short. Five of us attended the Florida Alliance of Children’s Councils Annual Retreat. It has been a packed week of information and sharing. I admit that at times I was lost! But, I was constantly encouraged and told that I am not alone. There were a couple of other newbies from newer CSCs that had experienced the same.

My takeaways from this conference were numerous. As the former Chair of the Florida Society of Association Executives, I was reminded why associations matter. They bring professionals together in specific fields where they can learn, share, and develop one another. Our team presented on TeensWork Alachua, and it was an excellent presentation on the program’s successes as well as our challenges. There were ten presentations on programs from around the state. We took notes and discussed how we might be able to create some similar programs in our county. We heard an excellent presentation from the Florida Chamber Foundation. We learned about a data dashboard that we can use to aid us as we review data in various zip codes throughout the state. Staff had the opportunity to meet with others in similar positions to discuss ideas and strategies and challenges. I was able to meet other EDs from the CSCs and begin to establish relationships. There was a discussion on the legislative fly-in tentatively planned for sometime during the legislative committee weeks. More to come on this. I’m looking forward to that experience!

I had a packed Monday.

* Staff met with our new Strategic Planning Consultant. We discussed the Listening Project to date and ideas to ensure its success. The Steering Committee will meet on Friday, December 16, from 9 am - Noon at our office. 

*FYI - Work is underway to prepare the Annual Report. Staff is compiling data and success stories for the report. 

*I requested monthly meetings with the Dorothy’s. They are resource rich and I can learn a lot from them. We had our first monthly meeting. They provided me with feedback on the Listening Project. They made a few suggestions on ways to reach more people. I learned more about how they strategized to get the ballot initiative passed and took notes on a few things I learned and feel we can use the next time. 

* I visited Newberry on Monday afternoon and met with Mayor Marlow, the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and the Director of Recreation. We discussed how the City can partner with the Trust. They asked about opportunities for Matching Fund programs and shared the benefits of ensuring the Trust remain connected with the outlying communities. 

They also shared a great update - they hired one of our youth who participated in TeensWork Alachua this past summer! They love their new employee and hope we continue the program this upcoming summer. 

They thanked us for assisting with the administration of the Opioid Taskforce. I met a couple of the Taskforce members at the Commission Meeting. We will be scheduling a kickoff meeting for either December or early January. We had dinner and after dinner, I attended the Commission Meeting where I was introduced and spoke to the Commission about our Listening Project and my commitment to ensuring our rural communities will not be forgotten by the Trust. Upon my closing, during public comment, a young lady spoke up welcoming me back home and she told a beautiful story about my dad. I didn’t think I would run into anyone in Newberry connected to me, but I was wrong! She attended Buchholz, graduated in my class (I didn’t recognized her and we haven’t seen one another in 30+ years) and thought my dad’s influence on students was phenomenal. It was another of those humbling experiences that I have encountered since coming back home. Mayor Marlow thanked me for being there as did several others who followed me out to speak with me before I left. It was a great visit.

We are working on the Agenda for the December 12th meeting. I will be reaching out to you all to check-in and answer any questions or discuss any concerns prior to the meeting. 

Have a great weekend and I’ll speak with you next week. 

Marsha 




Sent from my iPhone

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