Institution:
 
North Carolina A&T State University

Title:

Community Voices – Leadership Development for Community Decision-Making

Target Audience:

Emerging leaders and residents in limited-resource communities
Funding Source(s):
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Program Description:
The main goal of Community Voices is to develop groups of community residents who can work together over time, identify community issues and solve problems related to those issues in their communities and counties. The program trains facilitators to conduct training with individuals identified as emerging leaders in the community. The training curriculum used contains fifteen sessions. The sessions are divided into four units:
-Building a Community Vision Using a Shared Group Leadership Approach
-Communicating Our Vision through Working Together
-Working on our Vision – Step-by-Step
-Building a Community and County Organization to Implement Our Community Action Plan
Basic Leadership Skills:
The training is learner-centered and based on participatory methodology.
Level:
Basic
Program Support Material/Resources:
Materials that support the Community Voices program are:
Three manuals: Introduction to the Program and to Participatory Training; Community Voices: Program Implementation Guide and Community Voices: Participatory Training Guide for Co-facilitators – Volumes 1 & 2
A video used throughout the training that contains an introduction to the program and supplements materials in the curriculum.
Impact Highlights:
Members of the Huntersville Community Development Association used their leadership skills and desire to preserve a community asset to fuel a project to renovate a Rosenwald school building into a community center. Community members researched sources of funds for renovating the school and obtained a USDA Rural Development loan. The group, which consists of a strong, 40-member core, recently held a grand opening for this community facility after a two-year planning and construction process. The group recently made the first loan repayment in the amount of $17,928. A large part of the amount repaid was obtained through a proposal to the town of Huntersville that was funded for $15,000.
Program Contact:

Claudette L. Smith, Ph.D., Extension SpecialistP.O. Box 21928, N.C. A&T State University Greensboro, NC, Phone: 336-334-7956, Fax 336-334-7207, Email: clsmith@ncat.edu