Exciting News! Application Deadline Extended to December 12th, 2023 🎉

Welcoming & Engaging Communities Cohort – Application

The VLCT Welcoming and Engaging Communities Cohort is a partnership with Vermont cultural transformation consultancy Abundant Sun that offers municipal leaders participation in the firm’s Ethical Performance Improvement Campaign (E.P.I.C.). The E.P.I.C. Journey is a strategic methodology based on data and science aimed at catalyzing organizations to build better cultures from within.

Participants will join seven other Vermont municipalities on a six-month journey including eight two-hour virtual workshops on topics that include “Visionary Leadership,” “Employee Engagement,” and “Data Analytics & Building Strategy”. The sessions are paired with an opportunity for municipalities to collect key inclusion and belonging metrics by surveying elected officials, appointed officials, and paid staff.

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About the communities cohort

The cohort program is akin to “cultural transformation 101” aimed at helping communities enhance their equity journey. Each selected municipality will be asked to enroll two municipal officials to the cohort. Eligible officials who can enroll in the cohort include members of a municipality’s legislative body (city council, Select Board, trustees), a city or town manager or town administrator, a mayor, a department head or a clerk.

 

The cost of participation for each municipality is $500. This will be billed to municipalities at the end of program. The great news is that if a majority of a municipalities’ cohort members attend at least 80 percent of the meetings VLCT will reduce the cost to $100 per municipality. VLCT significantly subsidizes the cost of participation in the program thanks in part to a grant from VLCT’s risk pool, VLCT PACIF. 


Applications are due by close of business, Thursday, December 12th,2023.


The following information will be requested during the application process:

 

1) (Optional) A letter of interest signed by a majority of the municipality’s legislative body (Select Board, council, etc) that expresses an interest and commitment to participating in the cohort. This letter will be uploaded to the system.

2) Four questions answered directly on the application form:

a) Why does your municipality want to join the “VLCT Welcoming Communities Cohort”?

b) What does your municipality hope to achieve by participating in the cohort?

c) What efforts related to cultural improvement have your community already undertaken?

d) What obstacles do you foresee impeding your ability to create a more welcoming culture in your municipal workplace and in your community?

3) The names, positions and email addresses of the two municipal officials who will be participating in the cohort.  (Eligible participants include mayors, city councilors, Select Board members, village trustees, town managers and administrators, department heads and clerks).  The officials must have agreed to participate in the cohort before the application is submitted.  Enrollees will be required to attend the first in-person cohort meeting on Tuesday, December 12th, 2023. In addition, enrollees will participate in seven virtual two-hour E.P.I.C. Education workshops between January 9, 2024 – May 14, 2024.

4) The number of elected and appointed officials, staff, and volunteer positions (such as planning commission members) in the municipality.  This information will be necessary for the data collection portion of the cohort.

 

The VLCT Equity Committee will review applications and recommend participants to the VLCT Executive Director. Municipalities will be notified of their selection on Monday, December 18, 2023.  The first meeting of the cohort will take place the first week of January 2024. All successful applicants are required to attend the opening session.

Please click the button below to enter your interest:

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