Special thanks to all the speakers, planners, and participants for helping to make the 2005 conference such a success!

Online photo album

Introduction   Agenda & Presentations   For More Info   Looking Back

2005 National Conference

Improving Our Communities:
Indicators and Community Practice Working Together

A joint meeting of the National Association of Planning Councils
and the Community Indicators Consortium

-  Learn from experienced projects and practitioners
-  Explore emerging trends and issues affecting community planning
-  Participate in "how-to" toolkit sessions on aspects of community planning
-  Discover best practices in using indicators as a tool for community action
-  Connect with national Indicators initiatives
-  Take the first steps in a Community Indicators Movement
-  Create exciting new connections between research and community practice
-  Find out how you can take advantage of some new technologies

Introduction   Welcome letter

On behalf of the co-sponsors, NAPC and CIC, “Welcome to the conference!”  We hope you will gain some new ideas from the presentations ... meet and learn from colleagues who are working on similar issues all across the country and at the national level ... and leave with new tools, new friends, new insights, and a new awareness of possibilities for using indicators for positive community change.

NAPC (the National Association of Planning Councils) has been working since 1992 to promote quality community planning, and to support its members as they each provide leadership for community-based human services and health planning and action ... “working together to build strong and caring communities across America.” For many decades, planning councils have applied values and approaches which continue to help communities identify needs and work together toward solutions. Through its annual conference, website (www.communityplanning.org), and other initiatives, NAPC builds knowledge and networks.

CIC (the Community Indicators Consortium) is brand new. NAPC was among CIC’s founding partners. Its purpose is to promote communication among and help integrate the efforts of various networks, organizations and individuals involved in community indicators work in the U.S. and around the world. The ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness of these networks, organizations and individuals in advancing the art, science, and impact of indicators for improving the health, quality of life and sustainability of communities. CIC sponsored a first international indicators conference in Reno in March 2004, and is now planning a next conference in December 2005. Learn more about CIC online: www.communityindicators.net.

Clearly, NAPC and CIC and their members/affiliates have much in common. We decided to work together to present this conference as a means of learning together about best practices in using indicators in the context of community planning, as a tool for understanding issues, tracking changes, documenting progress, and informing and mobilizing action.

CIC and NAPC believe that social indicators of the well-being of people and communities deserve the same national attention as economic indicators. The potential is great. The indicators field is growing and evolving rapidly, with the advent of new technologies and a growing reliance on information for decision making. CIC is still defining its role, and discussions at this conference are expected to help shape the future direction of CIC and the indicators movement.

The people attending this conference include some of our country’s most prominent leaders and practitioners in these areas. Everyone here has experiences and expertise to share. Let’s use this time to think, interact, learn, and plan together about how best to use the insights and tools from community planning and from community indicators to improve the quality of life in our communities.
Please check with Conference Coordinators Ken Jones (CIC) and Sharon Clark (NAPC) if we can be helpful to you.

Enjoy the conference!

Conference Agenda & Presentations

Speakers' names are highlighted, and their downloadable presentations are in red. 

(More conference PowerPoints and speaker handouts coming soon.)

THURSDAY, MAY 12 (Washington Room)  

10-12: NAPC Board Meeting

Noon-1:30: Conference Registration  

1:30:  Welcome & Introductions - Mary Louis Campbell, NAPC President; Exec. Director, The Planning Council (Norfolk, VA)

2:30:  Public Policy - Issues & Advocacy (Session Overview) - Greg Brown, NAPC Board Member; Exec. Director, The Center for Community Solutions (Cleveland, OH; Paul Gilmer, NAPC Board Member, West Virginia Research League (Charleston, WV) (Conference Presentation Handout); Debra Stein, Director of Federal Policy and Advocacy, Voices for America's Children (Washington, DC) (Public Policy & Advocacy Presentation; Reliable Information Sources; Federal Budget Process Roadmap)

3:40: Community Change Practitioners - Insights from the Front Lines ... emerging trends and issues critical to the well-being of our communities - interactive discussion led by NAPC Board members Phil Dessauer, Exec. Director, Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa (Tulsa, OK) and Fred Butler, Exec. Director, Community Action Network (Austin, TX)

5-6:30: Conference Registration

5:30: Welcome & Orientation -- for new NAPC and CIC members and first-time attendees (Rooftop Terrace)

6:15: Opening Reception (on the Rooftop Terrace, overlooking the White House)

Dinner on your own ... everyone invited to go out together in groups


FRIDAY, MAY 13 (Ballroom)

8-9:30: Conference Registration
 
8-9:30: Display tables available: put materials out

8-9:30: Light continental breakfast -- self-serve

8:30: Breakfast Roundtables: small-group discussions

2-1-1 update (Pam Kestner-Chappelear, Council of Community Services - Roanoke, VA)

The three things nonprofits should do now in response to the Senate Finance Committee and Sarbanes Oxley (Martha Blaine, Community Council of Greater Dallas - Dallas, TX) -- sample policies for a nonprofit Board of Directors:  code of ethics; whistleblower; conflict of interest; finance comm. roles; finance comm. checklist

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – helping your community’s low-income working families receive the funds they qualify for (Kate Hanley, Tempe Community Council - Tempe, AZ - PowerPoint Presentation; Fred Butler, Community Action Network - Austin, TX - PowerPoint Presentation); Ben Warner, JCCI - Jacksonville, FL - PowerPoint Presentation)

Decline of the middle class and other challenges facing America's human investment industry (Phil Dessauer, Community Service Council - Tulsa, OK)

9:30: Welcome & Announcements - NAPC Conference Co-Chairs Phil Dessauer and Fred Butler; CIC Coordinator Ken Jones

9:40: “The State of Working America” - Larry Mischel, President, Economic Policy Institute (Washington, DC); participant discussion - PowerPoint Presentation

Keynote speaker:  Dr. Larry Mishel
President, Economic Policy Institute
Co-author, “The State of Working America,”
a comprehensive overview of the U.S. labor market and living standards.  This presentation's focus:  economic policy as it affects low- and middle-income families.  A nationally recognized economist, Mishel is regularly called on to testify and provide economic briefings to members of Congress.  He appears regularly as a commentator on the economy in print and broadcast media.  Dr. Mishel's bio

Noon: NAPC Annual Meeting & Conference Luncheon --  NAPC’s work highlights and plans; election of officers; recognitions; report on national project on future of the human services industry (Washington Room)

1:45: Community Planning: Overview, Principles, Tools - Mary Louis Campbell, Exec. Director, The Planning Council (Norfolk, VA) (PowerPoint Presentation)

2:50: Coalitions -- how-to’s, examples, issues, challenges:  Using coalitions to build a public agenda - Elaine Andersen, Exec. Director, Human Services Council (Norwalk, CT); Strange bedfellows -- engaging unexpected partners - Martha Blaine, Exec. Director, Community Council of Greater Dallas (PowerPoint Presentation); Lessons learned - Pam Kestner-Chappelear, Exec. Director, Council of Community Services (Roanoke, VA); plus group discussion

4-7: Free time
 
4:15-6:30: NAPC Board Meeting

6:45: NAPC / CIC Dinner

7:30-8:50: Indicators -- Community and National Perspectives:

The NAPC Leading Social Indicators: Measuring What's Important; Making a Difference (indicators as tools for community action) - Ben Warner (Associate Director, JCCI - Jacksonville, FL; Board Member/Indicators Chair, NAPC)

     Indicators Report     PowerPoint Presentation

Key National Indicators Project - Chris Hoenig (formerly of GAO and a liaison to the Key National Indicators Project (PowerPoint Presentation) 

SATURDAY, MAY 14 (Ballroom)

8-9: Conference Registration; light continental breakfast (Foyer outside the Ballroom)

8-8:45:  Communication and Collaboration: Tools for Positive Community Action. This session will focus on common challenges and best practices for working collaboratively on community issues, as well as tools and techniques for effectively using indicators to motivate community action.  It will offer findings based on the presenters' research as well as practical tools and templates. Thomas Darwin, Ph.D. (Director of Professional Development and Community Engagement, The University of Texas at Austin) (PowerPoint Presentation) and Laurie Lewis (Professor, Dept. of Communication Studies, The University of Texas at Austin) (PowerPoint Presentation)
 
9: CIC News - Projects & Progress

9:30: Indicators Projects - Moving from Indicators to Action: structure; implementation; role of information in project management, policy development, communication, and community action - Ken Jones (Coordinator, CIC; Exec. Director, Green Mountain Institute for Environmental Democracy (Montpelier, VT) - PowerPoint Presentation

Effective Community Governance Model - Paul Epstein (Epstein & Fass Associates, New York City, NY) - PowerPoint Presentation

11: Finding the Data that Works for Your Community -- data sources, and best practices for accessing, developing, & using data - Tom Kingsley and Kathy Pettit, National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, Urban Institute (Washington, DC) - PowerPoint Presentation

12:30: Lunch & Discussion - Buffet

2: Using Your Indicators: using data to promote discussion about local conditions and the potential for positive community action - Odette Ramos, Exec. Director, Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (Baltimore, MD)

4: Future Activities for CIC -- the Community Indicators Movement: an opportunity for all of the meeting attendees to help CIC meet its long term goals by identifying some specific directions and strategies for improving the field of community indicators

5:30-6:30: Free time

6:30: Celebration Dinner

For More Information

Visit this website again soon for more presentations and handouts from some of the speakers available to download.  Conference information is also featured on the CIC website.  

Conference coordinators:

   For NAPC – Sharon Clark, sharonclark@communityplanning.org

   For CIC – Ken Jones, kjones@gmied.org (for questions about indicators sessions
   and conference registration)

Would you like to make suggestions, volunteer to make a presentation, or be added to the invitation list for future NAPC conferences?  Please send NAPC an e-mail:  NAPC@communityplanning.org.  Be sure to include your mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address.

Looking Back ...

2004 National Conference, May 6-8, 2004 
Waterside Marriott Hotel - Norfolk, Virginia

Information   Online photo album

2003 National Conference, May 8-10, 2003
Asilomar Conference Center - California

Presentation highlights   Online photo album

Information and photos from other past conferences: 

2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998