LeadAR Class 20: Recovery Plus Resources Plus Resilience Equals Results

by Sylvia C. Brown, Managing Member, Thought Leaders & Action Partners Ltd.; Lead Organizer, Visibility Outreach Touch Engage (VOTE SoAR) - May 6, 2024

Smiles, well-wishes and delight abounded when our junior LeadAR member Violet Faye, recruited by Meagan Davis, joined us briefly. LeadAR Cohort 20 powered through without the undaunting leadership of Julie Robinson, LeadAR director, and Lisa Davis, program associate of leadership, who were traveling with an alumni group. Under the leadership of our colleague, Sherry Beaty-Sullivan, newly appointed director of Cooperative Extension Service's Ozark District, we remained on task and on time.

Our session’s topic for the month, centered on communications. In this case, emergency management communications and resources to support and ensure a resilient community.

Scott Bass (LeadAR Class 19), deputy director of preparedness and response for the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management, shared behind the scenes information, strategy, and tactics for the state and how its capabilities support municipalities and county governments with ensuring communities can recover. Among those capabilities are Arkansas' membership in a nationwide compact to share equipment and national guard support when needed. States reimburse one another when the shared capability is deployed.

With these capabilities and others, folks on the ground can be prepared so that when disaster strikes elected officials and the citizenry have a better chance to be more effective in their response approach.

Jean Noble, director of grants management for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), and her information were an additional tool in our recovery and resilience toolkit. We've heard from her colleagues in AEDC in previous LeadAR sessions, most recently in Newport, where we met a team lead from the economic development regional directors, Small and Minority Businesses Resources section director, sites coordinator as well as the agency's deputy director.

Noble and her colleagues of five focus on grants that the state receives through federal allotments. One of the bigger grants is the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) received through U.S. Housing and Urban Development. Fourteen jurisdictions receive their own allocation. Others have to compete.

Recognizing needs are great, the state has a set aside program for small population applicants. Identifying, applying for and implementing grants can be a confusing process and the grants management team offers question and answer webinars before each grant cycle. Additionally, one-to-one support can be scheduled with the office, regional economic directors, and our local planning and development districts.

The chat was jumping with recollections from our Hot Springs session that featured the real-life grants process between AEDC, planning and development districts, municipal and county staffs, and authentic citizen engagement. Anthony Whittington's humble brag of securing CDBG dollars for the completion of a facility in his portfolio is a testament to leveraging resources–people and funds–to make meaningful results for community.

In Priscella Thomas-Scott's overview a few months back, she was "reminded at the end of our leadership journey, a difference will be made in twenty communities around the state. Giving back and collaborating with others is truly transformational.” This sentiment, I believe, was highlighted with this session. In our worst times, in all-hands-on-deck moments, being prepared, knowledgeable, competent, and compassionate are key.

LeadAR is a program designed to help Arkansans broaden their understanding of issues and opportunities facing our state and strengthen their ability to make a difference. For more information about LeadAR, visit the website or contact Robinson, jrobinson@uada.edu, or Lisa Davis, ldavis@uada.edu.