Explaining what we do...

You can ask any staff member here at Greenville Forward and they will tell you that sometimes it is really hard to explain exactly what we do over here on Manly Street. We constantly work on our "elevator pitch" speech that will try to break down the work of years of visioning and planning into 30 seconds.

The thing is, you really only get some one's attention for that long...think about commercials that seem "so long" when they are usually no more than 30 seconds. As the new Marketing and Communications Director, this has been something I have been struggling to master in my first few months here full time. Every time I explained my new job to a friend or relative, I tried to improve my time and explanation but it probably still takes me about 5 minutes to make the quizzical looks go away in exchange for "Ohhhhhh" and "That's awesome!"

But seriously, we are a nonprofit organization called Greenville Forward dedicated to implementing Vision 2025, a plan detailing the best way for Greenville County to achieve the goals it desires in the years from now until 2025. Sure, that only takes a few seconds to blurt out, right? However, it never quite captures it all. Vision 2025 exists because Vision 2005 did. And Vision 2005 hearkens back to the days of Max Heller and his strong vision for a new Greenville in the late 80's that included the development of our beloved downtown scene and the industry that followed.

A place to live is no greater than the people who create it. Vision 2025 utilized community forums and the sheer intelligence of our civic leaders to determine what else needed to be done in Greenville County to make the quality of life here better and better. They covered every arena they could think of and more has been added along the way.

Greenville Forward exists because someone needed to wake up every day and think about how to move the vision further TODAY and TOMORROW and every day after that. We are focused on providing ways for organizations, volunteers, agencies and other nonprofits to collaborate on vision initiatives and realize the opportunities and resources they have in one another. We produce studies measuring where we are now and setting the bar for change in the future. We facilitate monthly conversations on regional topics that raise awareness for the unknown aspects of our Greenville world.

And, above all else, we seek to support this community that has achieved so much already and is brimming with potential for the future.

Now, how can I cover all of that in just 30 seconds without sounding vague or trite? I might just have to get back to you on that...