Our Opinion: Change agents
Tallahassee Democrat –Knight Creative Communities searching for 30
Tallahassee Democrat Editorial Board
June 30, 2010
Initially, the individuals behind Knight Creative Communities projects that would become Get Gaines Going, Sustainable Tallahassee and the Tallahassee Film Festival were dubbed “members of the creative class.” Author Richard Florida fashioned the title in some of his earlier works, pointing to civically minded residents as a resource for any community that desired to flourish as a place where singles and families would want to put down roots.
But they have always been catalysts — “a person acting as the stimulus in bringing about or hastening a result.”
The Knight Creative Communities Institute, a outreach effort of the journalism-focused John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is looking for more of these positive change agents to develop local projects to diversify our local economy. The open call for applications is an opportunity for anyone who has an interest to play a key role in shaping Tallahassee’s future.
“Since KCCI’s inception, we’ve seen that the community strongly identifies with our mission of creating a sense of place in Tallahassee,” said Laurie Hartsfield, KCCI executive director. “Due to the state’s current budget crisis, we have a unique opportunity to reshape and influence the city’s economic future. Creating initiatives that contribute to economic development and job diversification beyond higher education and state government is KCCI’s primary goal.”
Stepping stones to reaching those goals include identifying individuals who will commit to improving their community through five fundamentals that Knight Initiative projects have in common: “discovery of the facts, the vision to see what’s possible, the courage to push for change, the know-how to get it done and the tenacity that gets results.”
The catalysts who step forward and apply may have nothing in common save the aforementioned attributes — the catalysts represent a cross-section of our community, and our diverse interests in making Tallahassee a desirable place to live and work.
As for sense of place, the imprint of past KCCI community catalysts turned ideas into a brand that makes us what we are — the annual film festival is a testament to our passion for the arts. Sustainable Tallahassee is in keeping with our communities mission to be eco-friendly, and the Get Gaines Going project builds on a communal desire to create a downtown destination that links our calling cards — the universities and the state capital. None of these projects could have flourished without the financial support of KCCI, but capital is nothing without a vision for investing.
Local residents who have a vision for investing in Tallahassee with their time, support and ideas should step forward to bring about change by applying to be one of 30 new community catalysts.