Who said June was a down month?
Sometimes I forget what a weird and wild job I have - and then sometimes I have months like this one that remind me just how unique it is.
My June started with a major piece of legislation that CivicLex organized the Public Input for over a year ago going before Council. It was the culmination of two years worth of work trying to help residents understand and engage with Lexington’s complicated Comprehensive Plan, which governs land use in our community. I also found out we won an award from American Planning Association - Kentucky for that work.
Then, I went to Grand Rapids on the annual leadership trip hosted by Commerce Lexington Inc. where among other things, I had a wonderful housing policy chat with Brooke Oosterman from Housing Next.
After that, I went to Washington DC to meet up with Kit Anderson for Institute for Nonprofit News’ INN Days, where I met the rest of my Emerging Leaders Council cohort. I also finally got to meet the wonderful Hollie Russon Gilman in person! While in DC, I served on a remote panel with Megan Gulla for Trust for Public Land (thanks to Christina Jang and Geneva Vest!) to talk about CivicLex and the Park Equity Accelerator for their Community Power series. I also met up with my coworkers Megan and Stephanie Mobley who were there for the Citizen University’s Local Collaboratory program.
When I got back to Lexington, I spent a week showing Sara Schuenemann from Next City around Central Kentucky with Mary Quinn Ramer and introducing her to all of the folks doing great work in our region. Also, the final vote was cast for our Comprehensive Plan and I wrapped up a peer learning cohort with Report for America.
This week, I’m in Portland Oregon for a conference with John Gastil and Jillian Youngblood because we are in the running for a Phase II Civic Innocation Challenge grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
I talk a lot about how CivicLex touches so many different sectors of civic life in Lexington as a real benefit of our structure. And it is! Our “whole toolbox” approach allows us to tackle complicated civic problems with a wide array of solutions depending on what the job needs. But, man, it can also be a whirlwind. Looking forward to some rest when I’m finally back home.
In the meantime, Portland is beautiful!
