Redefining our Focus for Vision 2025

About this time of year, most anyone starts thinking about the fresh start coming on January 1. It is a new year with new beginnings and full of potential. The YMCA will inevitably be packed with dedicated resolution-ers for the first two weeks, Whole Foods will probably sell out of fresh produce, and we might see a few new faces during religious services. Whether you make resolutions or not, it is almost impossible to think about the promise that lies in a new calendar year.

Perhaps that is why businesses and other organizations often have retreats during December to mull over the past year and think about the new horizon coming in the next one. For Greenville Forward, our board retreat that occurred a couple of weeks ago was no different. But, we found ourselves coming back to that age-old question that first began when we were created four years ago. How do we get people to understand what we are and why we are important? How can we provide tangible evidence for the work we are doing?

When you are a visionary organization building towards the future, these can be tough questions to answer. But, they are important because we must get the support of the community for our vision to work. Collaboration is one of Greenville Forward's most important methods and it must occur on all levels.

We decided that we must narrow our focus when explaining Greenville Forward so that anyone can grasp even just a glimpse of what we are trying to do. If they are familiar with the Swamp Rabbit trail, then we can explain the role that vision had in making that trail happen. If they know the great transformation that occurred in downtown Greenville, they will understand why vision was necessary to make that change. If they work for BMW or Michelin or I-CAR then they will comprehend why long-term vision was necessary to bring these businesses to our area.

And, if they still need more tangible evidence to build a bridge between planning/dreaming and the actual follow through, we can show them the success of program such as Graduate Greenville and how it has affected dropout statistics in the Greenville County School District. We can show them the trees planted on I-85 by Trees Greenville. Or, we can tell them how we were finally able to create the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday--the last county in the nation to do so.

Though these programs may not have been yielded directly by Greenville Forward, they are all part of a great collaboration among members of our community to make Greenville forward a better place to live for the future. And that is what Greenville Forward is all about.