April 16, 2007

The first national initiative to participate in the Prosperous Communities, Prosperous Nation program, sponsored by National Ministries, Amercian Baptist Churches, USA (NM, ABC) is underway. Local teams from nine communities have signed on to participate in NM, ABC's "Transforming Communities for the Children" initiative. Teams from Anchorage, AK; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Detroit, MI; Philadelphia, PA; Foster, RI; Burlington, VT; and Milwaukee, WI will come together as a cohort group to participate in the Leaders Workshop to be held May 14-17, 2007.

The workshop will prepare the teams to lead their communities in whole-system planning and action to address child poverty and will serve as the kick-off for a national initiative. Participants will learn the Future Search method and principles and how they can be used to initiate systemic change at the local and national levels. With direct assistance by experienced Future Search facilitators during the workshop, local teams will begin planning their local Future Searches.

The local teams, National Ministries' staff, Future Search Network (FSN) facilitators, and FSN staff will participate in the Leaders Workshop together as a national/local community of people setting out to initiate concrete, systemic action to create prosperous communities on behalf of our nation's children. This group of 60 is now connected as national learning community via an email discussion group that will be used prior to and after the Leaders Workshop to support local efforts, learning, and national momentum.

Based on the needs and commitments of the group that will be identified during and after the workshop, National Ministries and the Future Search Network will partner to secure the resources needed to support the local action and national initiative.