The Values Group met at the Tucson Historic Y at noon on Monday, August 29, 2011. Meeting particpants included: Anita Fonte, Bob Hungate, Ron Spark, Kathy Wilson, Michele Crow, Joe Silins and Don Ijams.
As part of discussing the purpose of the group, a new name was decided – Achieving Community Values. The tag line for the group remains as Don suggested: Aligning community decisions with community values. Some of the preliminary names considered were: Community Values Alliance, Values Catalyst Group, Network for Values in Decisions, Community Values Action Network and Achieving Tucson Values. Words like actuating, motivating, results, decision making and enstilling were considered.
The group's purpose centers on bringing community values more into the everyday life of organizations, groups and institutions that affect the region's future. Achieving Community Values (ACV) believes that our future can be better if we make a conscious attempt, on a continuing basis, to align community decisions with community values. The geographic reach of this effort is the metropolitan area centered on Eastern Pima County.
The group discussed its relationship with Imagine Greater Tucson. Achieving Community Values is an offshoot of the IGT's Values Stewardship Working Group. ACV wants to maintain cooperative and friendly relations with IGT but is its own group, not a part of IGT. Working in partnership with IGT and with others (such as United Way, PRO-Neighborhoods, public and private organizations, and governmental jurisdictions) in metro Tucson is a welcome possibility.
Achieving Community Values wants to focus on a wide variety of community values, including all IGT value areas, as well as on other sources of information about the region's values. In particular, ACV wants to assist in honoring the effort expended by participants in IGT Phase I's conversations and surveys. ACV's goal is to use values from multiple data sources as guideposts in community decision making.
The group discussed a major strategy for moving forward. Subgroups relating to value areas were suggested. Each subgroup would begin by creating a trend report for its area, highlighting current status, trends and trajectories: where we've been, where are and where we're headed if current directions and practices are maintained. The trend report would be fact based, with source annotations, with an eye to building a widely accepted baseline of where we are and where we're heading.
As part of the report, the subgroup would compare trajectories with community values, to identify positive areas where congruencies exist and problem areas where significant gaps are apparent. Also, a review of currently existing groups and institutions working in the area, emphasizing their missions and current programs, would fill out the picture. The next ACV agenda will include discussion of subgroups, what they are, how they will operate, what areas they will cover and what their work programs might look like.
ACV agreed to meet weekly at noon on Mondays at the Historic Y as a regular course. Meetings are open to all – new interested persons are invited. Given Labor Day Monday 2011 and full schedules, the next meeting will be held on Monday, September 12, 2011 from 11:30 AM until 1 PM at the Historic Y Conference Room.
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