|
 |
|
|
FOCUS ST. LOUIS
THE REGION'S CITIZEN ORGANIZATION
By William Poe
East-West Gateway Coordinating Council brings together the region’s
elected officials to deal with Metro-wide issues. The RCGA plays
a similar role in bringing together the region’s business community.
The “third corner of the triangle” is citizens, and that’s where
Focus St. Louis comes in.
“We are the region’s citizen organization,” says Christine A. Chadwick,
executive director.
In fact, more than 1,200 area citizens from all walks of life in
all 12 counties of the bi-state region are members of Focus St.
Louis. And the members have much more in common than a minimum $50
membership fee.
“Our members are all people who believe in our mission of creating
a thriving, cooperative region by engaging citizens to participate
in active leadership roles to influence positive community change,”
Chadwick says.
Although that mission is quite a mouthful, suffice it to say that
Focus St. Louis members are interested in the value to the region
of good government, racial equality and social justice, quality
educational opportunities, and some bricks and mortar issues, such
as developing programs to allow area residents to safely dispose
of old paint and other household hazardous wastes.
And, while most of us can identify with those concerns, we probably
just talk about them. What makes Focus St. Louis valuable is that
the organization develops community leaders who actually take action
and bring others to the table.
Among those now sitting at the Focus St. Louis table are 30 board
members, plus two youth members who are high school students. Regarding
the students, Chadwick says, “It’s an opportunity for them to serve
on a major regional policy board and participate in the shaping
of policy. And it’s also a wonderful opportunity for us to get a
fresh perspective.”
Non-student board members, who serve three-year terms and meet as
a group 10 times each year, do much more than rubber-stamp proposals
brought to them by a 10-member staff.
“We really believe in the bottom-up approach,” says Chadwick, who
has headed Focus St. Louis since its inception in 1996.
“Ideas start in board committees and bubble-up. There are decisions
on every board meeting agenda and real action to be determined.
It’s one table where you get involved in the region’s tough issues.
Our board members do buckets of work.”
 FOCUS
St. Louis, Board of Directors (First Row left
to right): Jane E. Nelson, Lynn Lyss, June McAllister
Fowler, Molly Shepley, Valerie D. Bell, Leah Brooks
(Second Row): Deborah Patterson, Otis Cowan,
Mary B. Campbell*, Brad Simmons (Third Row):
Susan McCollum, Polly O’Brien*, Benjamin Ola. Akande*,
Stephen H. Lewis (Fourth Row): Donald B. Dorwart*,
Debra Hollingsworth, Dennis G. Coleman, James D. Weddle*
(Top Row): Reverend Jerry W. Paul, Jan Torrisi-Mokwa,
Frank Hamsher, Christine A. Chadwick (Members not
present): Barbara Bartley-Turkington, Karen Branding,
Bayard Clark, Debra Denham, Ted Eilerman, Doug Funderburk,
Juanita Hinshaw, Todd Korte, Percy McKinney, Anthony
Thompson |
|
Much of that work nowadays surrounds the latest Focus St. Louis
initiatives, including the Regional Governance Policy Group being
undertaken in partnership with the RCGA and a new task force on
educational issues facing so-called New Americans, the politically
correct term for immigrants. The policy group is looking at issues
of tax policy and government structure, healthcare and transportation,
and has proposed the formation of a Metropolitan Federation to foster
new partnerships for a common regional agenda.
An earlier program, Bridges across Racial Polarization, won national
acclaim and became a building block for the St. Louis Business Diversity
Initiative, a collaborative business initiated effort to help businesses
develop a more racially diverse workforce and supplier base.
Focus St. Louis, which boasts an annual budget of more than $1 million
from a variety of funding sources, is best known for its various
leadership programs, which have helped hone the collaborative skills
of some 1,400 St. Louisans from the ranks of government, education,
youth and more. Leadership St. Louis, now part of Focus St. Louis,
is actually 27 years old, having been run by one of the organization’s
predecessors, Confluence St. Louis and the Leadership Center of
Greater St. Louis. Other leadership programs, including one for
teachers and for high school juniors, now has about 250 St. Louisans
enrolled.
Chadwick stresses, though, that Focus St. Louis is about more than
leadership. Dozens of area residents, she says, serve on citizen
task forces that “look at the tough issues” facing our community,
such as fostering racial equality and preparing the region for the
challenges of the 21st century economy.
The work of Focus St. Louis might be best illustrated by its “What’s
Right with the Region” awards celebration. Each spring, individuals
and organizations are recognized for their contributions to promoting
a stronger community and fostering regional cooperation. Those recognized
include Forest Park Forever, the Madison County Recycling Program,
and the St. Louis Truancy Court collaboration.
“It’s an inspiring, uplifting event,” Chadwick says. “Just like
Focus St. Louis.”
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm. |
|
|
|
|
-
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -
|
