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 In partnership with the Metropolitan Leadership Network (MLN), the Alliance for Regional Stewardship and FutureWorks will conduct an in-depth analysis of the operations and achievements of business-led regional civic organizations in 30 major metropolitan areas in the United States, as well as Ottawa and Toronto, Canada. The organizations selected for analysis all are (1) led by business leaders, (2) engaged in general civic improvement, and (3) metropolitan in their geographic focus.
Founded as the Metropolitan Affairs Nonprofit Corporation in 1961, MLN is an informal association of the leaders of business-leadership groups from 20 major metropolitan areas in the United States. FutureWorks is a private consulting and policy-development firm that helps design, build, and manage the strategies, policies, and institutions necessary for sustainable economic growth on a regional basis.
The project will produce a portrait of the innovative practices employed by business-led civic organizations to improve the economic, spatial and social conditions in their metropolitan regions. An inventory of activities and an analysis of best practices will be compiled in two areas:
- Organizational practicesincluding mission, governance, membership, revenue sources and levels, structure, staffing, leadership development, and policies. The inventory will create basic profiles on 40 to 50 organizations in 32 regions, describing both recurring activity patterns and innovative practices.
- Organizational and individual roles as regional stewardsincluding initiatives, partnerships, and other activities to influence how regions approach specific issues, such as economic development, education, community development, land use and transportation, and others. The inventory also will profile innovative models of individual involvement by business volunteers and staff as regional stewards. This inventory will be adapted into a diagnostic tool that others can use to assess business leadership roles in regions and readiness for new kinds of business-government-civic-community/neighborhood group partnerships.
The project will begin July 1, 2003. The release and distribution of the findings will commence in the Spring of 2004.
Initial funding for this research has been provided by the Ford Foundation, members of the Metropolitan Leadership Network, and the Province of Ontario. As the project progresses, other organizations and institutions will be recruited to support the effort and dissemination of the findings and tools. Progress with this project will be reported in future issues of this on-line newsletter.
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