Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Creative Leadership Group Approach
Presented by: John Alter and Joe Boyd, U.S. EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics; Joan Ebzery, U.S. EPA; Cheryl Jordan, Color Outside the Lines; Michael McDavit, U.S. EPA Office of the Administrator; Lee Salmon, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Sherry Sterling, U.S. EPA Office Research and Development; and Joan Wangler, Edin Associates

Attendees will take part in a Creative Leadership Group (CLG) demonstration and will come away with an appreciation of the value, on a community level, of “conversations” that take place in a CLG with a trained facilitator. They also will learn an effective CLG communication technique, the “Art of the Question,” an ingenious way to spark new thinking about sticky issues and challenges that can be used in community work.
CLGs, in which 5-15 persons come together regularly to talk and reach agreed-upon goals, have been used at NASA and EPA to build leadership skills. CLGs also could be used to help solve local problems, deal with change and build healthy communities. CLG coaching conversations are aimed not just at the “what” or “how” of an issue, but also at learning and growing and confronting issues. The magic of the CLG is that the conversations themselves build a sense of community and dedication to common goals and help members clarify the contribution they would like to make and how to make it—hence they build a community “from the inside out.”