Community change happens by creating dialogue, not by listening to speakers and talking heads.
Momentum is a monthly series of intimate community conversations where a visionary facilitates a moderated dialogue on a variety of topics ranging from social services to youth engagement. The idea behind these conversations is to encourage the community to get involved in the daily happenings of their community. By creating conversation and collaborations, these monthly programs create momentum within Vision 2025.
The Specifics of Every Conversation
The Place: Greenville Chamber of Commece
When: The first Thursday of each month. The topic of the upcoming dialogue is posted ten days before the discussion.
The Length: One hour and a half (11:30 to 1:00)
The Cost: $10 pays for a delicious and healthy lunch.
Reservations: Attendance is limited to the first 35 people who sign up.
Reservations are REQUIRED by online reservations or by phone at 864.233.8443.
Note: To keep the programs intimate and to facilitate dialogue, space is restricted to the first 35 who sign up. Space is extremely limited. If you sign up and life gets in the way, please call us so we can release your spot.
Upcoming Topics
February 9, 2012
Topic: Inclusion in Our Classrooms
Vision 2025 states that in 2025 the proportion of minority educators in Greenville County mirrors the proportion of the minority population. It also states that all students and educators have access to mulit-cultural experiences, foreign language instruction and teacher and student international exchange programs including opportunities for students and teachers preK-12 to interact with and learn from students and other instructors across the globe.
How far have we come in achieving these goals? Do we offer a clear snapshot in our classrooms of multi-cultural diversity that will enhance the students experience? Do we offer experiences that will help them grow? If so, where do we go from here? If not, why, and how can we begin to make that happen?
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| Past Topics
These are some of the topics we have discussed over the last couple years. Click on the highlighted ones to watch a short summary video.
Community Resolutions. We’ve all gone through our brain bank of ideas for what we want to do to make ourselves better, more efficient, slimmer, smarter or better for the coming year. With each passing resolution, achieved or not, we build upon our personal past and present to create out future. But, what about our community’s future? What are our resolutions for Greenville? How do we want to be more efficient and creative in the coming year as a community? Read a recap.
Medically Underserved Greenville. Based on the October 2008 Health Assessment conducted by Greenville Forward and partners, the number of medically underserved in Greenville is close to 170,000 (37% of the county's population), with an increase of over 60,000 over the last ten years. What is the future?
Hidden Biases. In the 50 years since the Civil Rights campaigns, has Greenville made significant strides in becoming more inclusive, diverse and tolerant as a community? What is under the surface that we have not discovered, and how could the hidden biases keep us from growth?
The Power of Words. What is the importance of teaching other languages to our youth at a young age? With Greenville having the largest international manufacturing investment in The United States, how important is it for us to become a multi-ilingual community to fit our growing internationalism?
Bused Out. Many say our public transportation system is broken. Many say it cannot be fixed without destroying the entire system and rebuilding from scratch. But, if this were the case, what would happen to those that really need it? What would happen to those who don’t need it now, but have a desire to use it?
Dollars and $ense. Greenville has grown to be known as a town ripe with beauty, friendly faces and a model of revitalization? But, what about outside the boundaries of downtown Greenville? Each city in Greenville County has recently undergone extensive long term planning processes, resulting in comprehensive plans for each, including the overall County Comprehensive Plan.
Will They Stay or Will They Go? We had a fantastic conversation on talent retention, engagement and attraction in Greenville. Who is Greenville competing with for talent? Are we winning? What are our strengths?
Learning Greenville. How we can make Greenville a learning community? How do we encourage our citizens to engage in and celebrate learning? What does a learning community look like? How do we learn so we can shape our future?
Habit or Hybrid. How does Greenville use bike lanes, pedestrian paths, and plan the future of transit in our community.
City Conversations. Something miraculous happens when conversations take place amongst decision makers. Collaborations form, seeds get planted, communities grow and prosper. Regions around the country have seen this happen.
Live, Work, Play. Greenville's growth over the last 20 years has been tremendous. Each day we are meeting new people who have moved here looking for the opportunity to share in the success. Many of these new neighbors have a desire to live in or near the thriving downtown we all enjoy.
Sharing the Secret.Each day, people new to Greenville discover the "hidden gem" of the Southeast. They come into town, turn left onto Main Street and they are hooked. Many make the decision to move here before they even get to Falls Park. The tree lined streets, the smiling faces, the beautiful landscape. For the most part, we still remain an undiscovered secret.
Dining Greenville. Richard Peck, of Table 301, led the July discussion on Greenville's place as a dining destination. Greenville has been called a culinary mecca among the landscape of South Carolina, and tourists and business people flock to Greenville County to sample our cuisine. But, what does all this mean for our future?
Funding Our Future - Arts in Greenville. Our May 2010 Momentum Series focused on the arts community that we have in Greenville. A group of 30 sat around and discussed sif we are truly a community which supports our arts.
Accessing our Healthcare System. Participants in the April Momentum Series had the pleasure to experience the newly formed Healthcare Access Simulation developed by Greenville Forward and Beth Templeton of Our Eyes Were Opened. Each person was given a specific condition with a variety of other challenges.
Inclusion in Greenville. Is Greenville's reputation as a community that struggles with diversity issues real? What can we do to be a community where all people are welcomed?
Creating a Culture of Learning. How can Greenville create a culture where we encourage all our citizens to learn beyond their potential?
Incubating Greenville. Logan Metcalfe creates discussion about how Greenville can build and encourage new, small, emerging companies.
Community Revitalization. How can a community recreate itself and revitalize its homes, neighbors, and businesses?
River Dance. Greenville is blessed with a bounty of natural resources. Tom Keith, Executive Director of Friends of the Reedy River leads the discussion on managing our natural assets.
Town and Gown. Dr. Chuck Morton led the June Series on Town and Gown Greenville. The conversation centered on building successful university and community collaborations. The video is exactly 12 minutes long, but it's full of insightful and interesting conversation.
Grow or Sprawl. John Tynan, from Upstate Forever, moderated the May series which discussed achieving the balance between sprawl and economic vitality for Greenville County. This is a pretty long one at 12 minutes, but the discussion was too good to get it smaller.
Young Greenville. Every month Greenville Forward hosts "moving conversations" through the Momentum Series. In April, we addressed how Greenville can best create an environment where we keep, retain, and inspire our younger people to make a difference and be involved in the future of Greenville.
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