Summary of Participants Reflections from John McKnight's Presentation on 10/1/07

Building Communities from the Inside Out (Post 5 of 5)

ADDITIONAL NOTES ABOUT INGREDIENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD CONNECTORS…

http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/community/introd-building.html

Ingredients that are “mapped” to discover all of the assets of the community:

1. Individual citizen and his/her gifts http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd/abcdci.html - one example of an inventory but others have been created by local citizens and associations
2. Local Associations – less formal and much less dependent upon paid staff than are formal institutions, are the vehicles through which citizens in the U.S. assemble to solve problems, or to share common interests and activities
3. Institutions – government, schools, hospitals, businesses, other services, etc.
4. Physical characteristics – the land, buildings and infrastructure of neighborhood
5. Local Economy – exchange
   

#1 and #2 are the basis of democracy and will take more time to discover. All of the community assets should be mobilized.

Characteristics of a good CONNECTOR:

1. Gift centered – universal characteristic
2. Well connected – been part of the community for a long time – universal characteristic
3. Trusted
4. Believes community is welcoming

This is about CONNECTING rather than leadership. A good connector is NOT a leader. A good connector is born and cannot be “trained.”