Visioneering Wichita Newsletter                                                                              June 2005

Dream it. Plan it. Do it.

Strategic Alliance Meetings Off and Running

More than 330 people attended the first round of Strategic Alliance meetings held in April. At those initial meetings, the groups discussed the identified strategy, determined a benchmark to measure and recruited volunteer leaders.

The second round of meetings for the six Strategic Alliance groups will focus on the specific future of each alliance, including next steps and defining long-term and short-term success. Special emphasis will include a focus on diversity and regional issues, while identifying potential for collaboration. Meetings scheduled for June are:

Government – Unified Legislative Agenda
June 3 – 8:30
WSU Hughes Metro Center, 5015 E. 29th St. N.
Develop and promote a South Central Kansas unified legislative agenda representing a broad cross section of issues supported by South Central Kansas organizations.

Quality of Life – Racial Diversity, Opportunity and Harmony
St. James Episcopal Church, 3750 E. Douglas
June 7 – 1:00 p.m.
Ensure inclusion and racial diversity throughout the community, including economic impact, neighborhoods and education.

Economic Development – Entrepreneurs and Small Business
June 15 – 9:00 a.m.
Newman University – Jabara Flexible Black Box Theater , 3100 McCormick Ave.
Promote entrepreneurship and small businesses, including policy, programs, resources and education.

Education – College Mecca
June 29 – 9:00 a.m.
Newman University – Jabara Flexible Black Box Theater, 3100 McCormick Ave.
Strengthen awareness of MSA colleges, programs and graduates within all area colleges and universities, as well as lifelong learning.

The first two Strategic Alliance meetings were held in May – Education – K-12/Mentoring and Quality of Life – Health Care.

The community’s Visioneering Wichita plan outlines a total of 158 strategies identified during the community-wide planning process. In early 2005, the Steering Committee chose six of those strategies to focus on for the coming year because the Steering Committee believed they had the greatest ability to jump start movement on the key benchmarks. Other groups and organizations continue to work on the other strategies.

The six Strategic Alliance meetings are in addition to the seven Foundation teams that meet monthly to discuss each foundation of the overall community plan, including Quality of Life, Infrastructure, Government, Economic Development, Education, Private Sector Leadership, as well as the Benchmark Foundation that measures progress on all objectives. The Visioneering Wichita Steering Committee oversees the process.

Happy 1st Birthday, Visioneering Wichita!

One year ago Visioneering Wichita began. Its growth has been exponential because of the grassroots involvement of area citizens.
Let’s review the progress:

• 15,000 people have now directly participated in Visioneering Wichita
• 147 businesses and organizations have signed up to become Visioneering Wichita implementation partners
• The Visioneering Wichita regional strategic plan includes 158 specific strategies and 80% of those initiatives have been adopted by one or more Vision Partner
• More than 300 presentations about Visioneering Wichita were made
• Six strategic alliances, involving more than 400 citizens, are building action steps to directly impact one or more of our key benchmarks
• The Kansas Health Foundation with the assistance of the Self Help Network is providing funding to support leadership development to more than 500 additional community citizens.

Vision Partners….Has Your Organization Signed Up?

What does it mean to be a Vision Partner? You are invited to attend a Vision Partner orientation meeting on June 30 at either 7:30 a.m. or 4:00 p.m. at the Wichita Chamber, 350 W. Douglas. The hour-long sessions will address the Visioneering Wichita process and vision and focus on what it means to be a Vision Partner. Businesses, organizations or individuals that wish to attend a session should call or email Diane Longfellow at 268-1141 or info@visioneeringwichita.com. Check out a current Vision Partner list and/or form to become a Vision Partner at www.visioneeringwichita.com .

Kudos to those organizations and individuals who are partnering in unprecedented ways to propel our community’s dreams forward.

Visioneering Wichita’s Guiding Principles
An important component of moving our vision forward requires intensive one-on-one and community-wide communication efforts. Throughout this first year process community citizens emphasized 7 themes to keep in mind in every step taken forward. These themes represent the collective vision of those who have participated. In everything we do we want to:
• Be regional in focus and outreach
• Keep a focus on diversity and reach out to all
• Be inclusive in every activity
• Keep a grassroots focus
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Open our networks to leadership
• Search out and support “low hanging fruit” that can create “big wins”

For more information or feedback contact Suzie Ahlstrand at 268-1135 or suzie@wacc.org.

Special Recognition to Visioneering Wichita Founding Partners
City of Wichita Wichita Downtown Development Corporation
Kansas Health Foundation Sedgwick County
Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce Wichita Community Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Past Newsletters

March 2005 (pdf format)