We bring together partners to mobilize collective action around priority areas for the region. In 2018, based on community input, the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative board of directors selected two priority areas for our region:
1) Advancing Economic Development through the Intersection of the Creative, Recreation, and Food Sectors
The Northeast Kingdom’s natural assets, along with its creative culture and farms, offer top-notch experiences for everyone from wilderness adventurers, to foodies looking for a farm to table experience, to artists seeking a creative community. Given these strengths, a tri-sector task force will develop a comprehensive strategy to leverage existing assets to form new partnerships that will create jobs and retain grow the region’s skilled workforce.
2) Expanding Leadership Development
Local leadership is vital to the success of our state’s rural areas, but there is a need to strengthen the region’s pipeline of emerging leaders and to encourage young people to take leadership roles in their communities. Expanding youth development and leadership programs will help more people become engaged with the civic life of their communities and provide opportunities for citizen empowerment. A leadership task force will advance programs for emerging and seasoned leaders that help participants build knowledge, strengthen skill sets, and cultivate a leadership network with shared goals and plans.
Priority Area Action Plans
In 2018, the NEKC launched a new “Task Force” framework for using collective action to develop strategies for addressing the regional priorities and promote economic and community development in the region. The NEKC convened leaders and experts from relevant organizations to form two Task Forces, one on Leadership Development and the other on Advancing Economic Development through the Intersection of the Creative, Recreation, and Food Sectors.
The Task Forces met to discuss and strategize through the year and hosted a series of community engagement listening sessions. The result of these efforts are two platform for actions, which serve as a platform for collective action to promote economic and community development in the region.
The plans detail projects that can be started in 2019 and will have a measurable impact in areas crucial to the future of the Northeast Kingdom.
Join Us
We need everyone pitching in to help advance the recommendations from our action plans. We invite you to join us in this effort:
Spread the word and invite others to join us in building support for the plan.
Volunteer to help us with the next steps. Let us know if you or your organization would like to assist with a specific project in the report.
Invest in this work. Let us know if you or your organization would like to contribute to a specific project in the report.
Stay tuned and sign up for future opportunities as we move forward with implementing the recommendations.
