When Governor Hogan of Maryland announced the closing of public schools statewide on March 13, 2020, we at PEA like almost everybody, had no idea what to expect in the weeks and months to come. On that day, Steve facilitated the first virtual steering committee meeting ever held by the Purple Line Corridor Coalition. The…
I had the privilege to facilitate the core, participatory parts of the National Center for Smart Growth’s (NCSG) “Smart Growth @20” event in Annapolis. We designed the event to not only commemorate 20 years of commitment to smarter growth in the state, but more importantly to begin to set the agenda for smart growth for the…
PEA was honored to facilitate the AAPI Leadership Action Forum for the Mayor’s Office on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA) in DC on Saturday April 21st. The forum brought together 100 leaders and stakeholders from the Asian Pacific Islander community, with the highest numbers coming from the Chinese-American, Filipino-American, Vietnamese-American, and Korean-American communities but with…
Last week, PEA had the great honor of facilitating the National Summit for Democracy in Washington, DC, hosted by two organizations, Stand Up Ideas (SUI) and Protect Democracy (PD), committed to the defense of American norms, ideals, and institutions. The intent of the summit was to “convene an ideologically diverse group of activists and advocates…
We had a unique opportunity this summer and fall to work with the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) to design and facilitate the inaugural PlanHoward Academy. The Academy idea originated with County Executive Alan Kittleman. Early in his first term, he committed to involving County residents far more in the planning arena…
Most communities hold public meetings throughout the year, but very few of them are well organized or structured to be effective or achieve meaningful results. Often, public officials invite public comment on policies or plans but without framing well what are the issues in play, what kind of information needs to be provided to bring…
As we’ve explored in previous posts, ensuring a turnout of diverse citizens is a significant factor in ensuring a successful public meeting. Yet, ultimate success is determined by how you deliver the meeting. We like to say that 50% of great facilitation is having the right meeting design in place. Yes, you still need someone…
Ensuring Inclusive Representation in Who Attends Public Meetings Proclamations are often made about the importance of diverse voices being a part of public processes. Then there is the counter retort that “We advertise public meetings, but nobody comes!” Often planners and policy-makers don’t know how to recruit diverse groups of people to public meetings, and…
Core to our belief in public engagement is that people should have the opportunity to influence the decisions that impact their lives. The fact is too many public meetings do not have any significant influence on the end result – a policy change or new plan. Good public engagement does not waste time asking citizens…