The goals of Southern’s leadership initiatives are to increase citizen involvement, promote interaction between community organizations and foster an environment that encourages cooperation, new ideas, and civic pride.
Southern’s community planning processes aren’t just talking sessions. Southern helps the community create an infrastructure to set action steps, create action plans, and identify and enlist the community actors to do what it takes to achieve the community’s strategic goals. Southern provides technical assistance to groups to help develop their capacity to implement these plans. When no such group exists, Southern works with the community to create new institutions to fill the gap. Southern helps its communities work together and take the initiative.
New City, New Leadership
The Delta Bridge Project directly contributed to an act of enormous significance for Phillips County, namely the merger of two cities to create a new county seat, Helena-West Helena. This had long been identified by progressive voices in the community as a wise move to address the myriad common challenges facing the two cities, including corruption and mismanagement, but decades of division had thwarted all previous attempts. It took new leaders, most of whom had participated heavily in the community planning process facilitated by Southern, to bring about this change, which was made official when majorities in both cities voted for the merger in early 2005. Many of the residents who assumed leadership roles during the strategic planning process went on to win election to office in the new city government, despite having little if any previous leadership or government experience. Southern supported this impressive group of leaders by providing $15,000 for a leadership seminar as they transitioned into office.