SEPTEMBER 2019 BACC NEWSLETTER
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The Bay Area Community Council is the leading organization in engaging community leaders in understanding and shaping the future of the greater Green Bay area.
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President's Message
Dear Friends of BACC,
There are some very positive developments in the growth of Bay Area Community Council. Since January of 2018 we have become an independent organization at the urging and with the support of our founding organizations: Brown County United Way, the Greater Green Bay Chamber and the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation. The transition has been a very positive one for us and for our role in bringing together our both our constituencies and the greater community . We believe we are all the stronger
as an independent organization as we work together with you and all community leaders in
government, education, business and non-profits.
Unique among many organizations is the very role of our board. We are not an advisory
board with a large organizational office and multiple staff who run the organization. We are a
governing board and our directors (up to 24) carry the ball in governance and activities. We
realize that we will need additional administrative assistance as we move forward “to engage
community leaders in understanding and shaping the future of the greater Green Bay area”
(from our vision statement).
We have already gained a new set of tools to help both our constituencies and the community as a whole to shape the future using Foresight Analysis to help them anticipate and lead change so that together we can build a vibrant future for our community. To date, we are training/have trained leaders in 25 organizations in Foresight Analysis so that they and their organizations can help build the future of our community. We continue to promise to:
● Be a thought leader on emerging community issues
● Engage the community in this process
● Monitor and report progress
● Gather appropriate resources to accomplish our vision
We realize we can’t — and shouldn’t — do it alone. We need to develop strategic partnerships within our four groups of community leaders. We need both the expertise and the financial backing of these partners to accomplish something unique in the greater Green Bay community. We have done extensive research to determine whether there are other communities who try and bring government, education, business and non-profits together to work as a team for the betterment of the greater community. To date, we believe that we are unique in our vision and in our action.
Thank you for being part of this action! In the coming months, we may be approaching some of you to join us in specific ways as we forge a future together. To help this happen, we are developing an updated communication strategy to help us connect better with each other. If all goes well, we hope to unveil all this in 2020, the 30th anniversary of Bay Area Community
Council.
As I like to stay, “stay tuned”....
Paul Demuth
President
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SEPTEMBER 12 BACC Board meeting
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Chairman Paul Demuth announced the resignation of treasurer Larry Rose. Tom Schumacher has agreed to be acting treasurer.
The Board discussed several topics related to board structure, term limits, BACC staffing, budgets, and facilities related to the current growth of BACC output measures. Directors agreed to move forward with plans to expand the BACC community footprint.
Board member Natalie Bomstad hand delivered invitations to the October 3, 2019 Wello special event.
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Know your BACC Director: Beth Kowalski
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Tell us a little bit about yourself—where you were raised, past and current professions and careers, how long you have lived in Brown County, and some of your favorite pass times
I am the only child of two retired teachers and mother of a nine and six year old boys. I grew up in Dyer, Indiana and graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education. I received my masters degree historical administration from Eastern Illinois University. People's stories and their connection to objects has always interested me. I am also very curious as to how things work or how they are connected.
I have worked in museums since 1998: two county museums, a historic house museum, and the Wisconsin Historical Museum. I moved to Brown County to become Director of the Neville Public Museum in 2013. As director of our county's museum, I am actively engaged in the development and preservation of the peoples collection, utilizing community partnerships and programming opportunities to expand the cultural resources within Brown County. In my spare time, I love spending time with family and friends as well as sharing educational opportunities with my two sons. I also enjoy relaxing at home, watching a good movie, reading books of all types and working in my yard. I look forward to traveling more once my boys are older.
Describe your relationship to the BACC—when did you start on the BACC, what are your hopes for the BACC, what personal gifts do you bring to the BACC mission?
I was introduced to the BACC by David Littig when he and Eileen were on the Community Content Committee for the exhibit
Estamos Aqui. I became very interested in the LIFE Study--the information being collected to better discover our community, including our current and future needs. I joined the BACC board in August 2019.
I hope that BACC will continue to be a leader in networking and connecting people and organizations as our community develops a plan for the future. I tend to view the big picture, while also being detail driven to achieve goals and objectives. I have worked in cultural organizations my whole career within the framework of municipal government; I know how local government works.
What do you like most about life in Brown County?
I love the natural beauty within the parks system. I also love how easy it is to navigate with so little traffic. I also like the affordability of living and the school system choices.
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Applying LIFE Study data for local organizational planning and visioning
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Steve Herro
BACC Executive Assistant
BACC Directors and staff
provide local and other examples of connecting foresight analysis to our lived experience.
Earlier this month, I was invited by a local nonprofit to attend part of its day of visioning and strategic planning. I made a lot of connections with foresight analysis and BACC discussions during the morning.
Effective use of foresight analysis involves careful scanning for signals of change. These signals describe current
events, trends, or choices (local or otherwise) that impact the success of our organizations and our contributions toward the betterment of our local community. At our planning meeting, we spoke of the challenge of retaining millenials for the organization. Attendees shared that young professionals begin to engage with their organization but leave because they move from greater Green Bay for different jobs or personal reasons.
I reminded our group of the 2016 Brown County
LIFE Study. Amongst other things, it reported that "...perceptions of the Brown County economy and its ability to attract young professionals has improved significantly since 2011....Similarly, 64% of surveyed county residents rated
Brown County as a place for young professionals, a 5 percentage point increase from 2011 (p. 116)." Page 123 of the report specifically addresses how different age groups perceive attractiveness of our community for young professionals. Fifty-seven to 68 percent of all age groups agreed that Brown County was an excellent or good place for young professionals.
This degree of expressed satisfaction is an important
trend for the success of greater Green Bay. There is always room for improvement, but can our local for profits, non profits, educational, and government entities build on this positive
trend for the betterment of their organization and all of greater Green Bay? BACC Board member Randy Van Stratten recently opined that the BACC can
partner with organizations to provide a pathway to look into the future, the BACC can
engage with organizations with predictive tools, and that the BACC can
create a venue for organizations to share community future trends.
I dare say that Randy would approve of the role of the BACC and use of foresight analysis at the discussion referenced above :)
Favorite resources and news you can use
Recent news stories, articles, books, videos, Websites or venues of interest to the BACC supporters and newsletter readers, recommend by the BACC staff and directors. Also community events of interest to the BACC supporters
"How to Make Your Vote Count"
October 5, 2019
9 am-noon
YWCA Greater Green Bay, 230 S Madison, Green Bay
Sponsored by League of Women Voters of Greater Green Bay. Visit
event's Facebook page for more information.
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