FACILITATOR TRAINING GUIDE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome 2 THINKBIG Overview 3 Conversation Elements 4 Public vs. Private Conversations 4 Host and Facilitator Responsibilities 5 Suggested Conversation Timeline 5 Rules for Engagement 8 Data Collection and Results 9 Marketing Tips and Resources 9

WELCOME Thank you for taking action and hosting a THINKBIG conversation. With your help, more people than ever will be heard and real solutions to real problems will be identified. On October 25th, more than 170 conversations will take place across Stark County with approximately 1,700 diverse individuals who care about our community and its future. The goal of THINKBIG is to move the needle in the right direction and reverse the community trends identified in the 2017 Strengthening Stark report. The data-driven report revealed Stark County is becoming smaller, older and poorer. Stark Community Foundation is teaming up with Strengthening Stark to bring you and others who might not otherwise have an opportunity to be heard together to share your experiences, thoughts and ideas on how to strengthen Stark County. We would like you to take this two-hour block of time and engage our neighbors in rich conversation starting with talking about the positives and moving to brainstorming BIG ideas to solve societal issues. We want to know what is working and what is not, but most of all, what needs to change. We realize it does take a village and this is our second, strategic step to procure the data needed to put initiatives in place and make Stark County stronger. Did you know, (according to the Strengthening Stark report):

• nearly 40% of our working residents travel outside the county for employment? • more than 45% of Stark’s population today is 45 or older? • it is estimated that by 2040 our county population will be around 355,500, which is an

estimated 6% decline from the turn of the century • between 2014 and 2016, the county’s economic development activities helped generate

about 1,100 jobs; however, the county lost 1,500?

“The population, demographic and job numbers all add up to the need for a focused, community-wide effort to improve job creation, job preparation and job access in Stark County.”

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We are thrilled with the level of interest our inaugural THINKBIG event has received. Thank you for making our community united and residents heard! This Facilitator Training Guide will prepare you for your conversation on October 25th, but should you have any more questions, please visit our website at thinkbigstark.com or send an email to Amy Weisbrod at aweisbrod@starkcf.org or Callie Livengood at clivengood@starkcf.org. THINKBIG OVERVIEW WHAT Stark Community Foundation is teaming up with Strengthening Stark to host THINKBIG: a day of engaging community conversations. Residents will come together to celebrate the good in Stark County and brainstorm solutions to community needs. Each community conversation will be among 6-10 people and focused on a hot-button issue. Conversations will be centered on the following topics:

1. Arts & Culture 2. Childcare 3. Community Improvement 4. Drug & Alcohol Addiction 5. Education 6. Employment & Entrepreneurship 7. Entertainment & Recreation

8. Environment & Public Space 9. Food 10. Healthcare & Medicine 11. Housing 12. Inclusion 13. Mental Health 14. Transportation

WHEN Friday, October 25, 2019 from 8:30-10:30 a.m.* *If that time doesn’t work for you, we suggest a two-hour time period either a day before or after October 25th so we can include your participants’ feedback in the community THINKBIG report. WHO Anyone who lives, works, learns and plays in Stark County WHERE Conversations will take place all over the county – at libraries, restaurants, coffee shops, office breakrooms or even in the comfort of your own home. WHY To develop BIG ideas to strengthen Stark

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CONVERSATION ELEMENTS An ideal THINKBIG conversation will be comprised of the following elements:

One Table

One Topic

Beverages + Snacks

A Welcome and Introduction

6-10 Neighbors Looking to THINKBIG

Brainstorming and Conversation

A Thank You

A Survey

PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS THINKBIG hosts were given the option to have their conversations either open to the public or held privately. Regardless of conversation type, we ask that your discussion be capped at 10 participants to allow for a close-knit conversation and to give everyone at the table a voice. With more than 10, your conversation will become ineffective and not all will be heard. If several do not show, that is okay – the smaller the better. PUBLIC You have chosen your conversation to be open to the public. Thank you! This is a sure-fire way to get a more diverse crowd talking and introduced to new people. As a public conversation, your location and chosen topic will be promoted online at thinkbigstark.com and residents can register for your conversation. You can encourage people to register online or use a paper Sign-Up Sheet on page 13, but keep in mind that all participants of public conversations must register online. We recognize that not every participant will have access to a Wi-Fi enabled device to register online, so we ask that hosts and/or facilitators fill out the online registration form for any participant who needs assistance or has signed up using the paper Sign-Up Sheet. When you reach the max of 10 people registered, no additional registrations can be made. Our online ticketing service, Eventbrite, will automatically change your discussion’s status to sold out. If your conversation does not sell out, your online registration form will close end of day on October 22nd. You will receive an email with instructions on how to access your guest list from Eventbrite. As a public conversation, we will help promote your conversation through our website, email communication, social media and printed marketing materials. We ask that you do the same and utilize the resources offered to you such as graphics, sample messages and news release in this guide starting on page 10 and on thinkbigstark.com.

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PRIVATE You have indicated you would like to have a private conversation and personally invite your own guests to participate. When creating your guest list, please try to diversity as much as possible in an effort to engage people from different backgrounds who bring a different perspective. You can register your guests by using our Sign-Up Sheet on page 13. Following your conversation, we ask that you share your participants’ contact information with us through a simple form on thinkbigstark.com. Please provide your guests’ information as soon as possible so that we can communicate with them about sharing their thoughts through our survey if they didn’t have the time to fill it out at your discussion. We will also keep them up-to-date on the results of this county-wide initiative and any future THINKBIG events. HOST AND FACILITATOR RESPONSIBILITIES Host and/or facilitator responsibilities include:

• Find a location to hold a THINKBIG conversation on or around October 25 • Decide if your conversation is public or private • Choose a topic of discussion • Ensure your location is ADA accessible (for public conversations only) • Attend an in-person or online training session • Invite 6-10 people to join your conversation • Offer access to Wi-Fi, restrooms and a laptop/computer/tablet • Provide a light snack and beverages for guests to enjoy during the conversation • Lead and facilitate the conversation • Respond to a survey and provide feedback regarding your THINKBIG experience • Encourage your guests to respond to a brief survey and provide feedback, too

SUGGESTED CONVERSATION TIMELINE Based on a two-hour conversation from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Greet Guests

Greet guests and encourage them to sign in, make themselves a nametag, grab a snack and/or beverage and take a seat. Let them know you’ll get started once the rest of the guests arrive. Make them also aware of any housekeeping items (restrooms, parking validation, etc.)

8:45 – 9 a.m. Welcome and Introductions

To get started, publicly thank the host (if other than yourself) for allowing you to use this space for today’s THINKBIG community conversation and thank your guests for showing up today and their commitment to our community. Briefly set the stage for how the conversation will be structured – introductions, strengths, threats, needs, players, BIG ideas, wrap-up and a brief survey. The placemat in front of them is designed to let them put their thoughts to paper and keep your group on task.

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Break the ice by introducing yourself to the group and share what motivated you to get involved in THINKBIG. Invite guests to go around the room and introduce themselves and also share why they decided to participate in this county-wide initiative. Or, get creative and try a different ice breaker – pose a question related to your topic area to get people talking. For example, if your conversation is about Arts & Culture, ask the group to quickly share the first concert they ever attended or if they could try any art, what it would be and why? Here are a few other ice breakers to choose from.

Ice Breakers What brought you here today? Why are you passionate about this topic? How long have you lived in Stark County? What’s your favorite attribute of our community? What one word would you use to describe Stark County? What are your hopes for our community, now and in the long-term?

9 – 9:10 a.m. Strengths

While the focus of THINKBIG is to brainstorm solutions to community needs, start your conversation on a positive note. Talk as a group for 10 minutes about what is going well in Stark County as it relates to your topic area. Here are some conversation prompts to get you started.

Prompts What are the best things about <topic> in our community? What are you most proud of as it relates to <topic> in Stark County? What does Stark County have in <topic> that others don’t? What sets us apart from other communities in <topic>? What positive actions do you see taking place in the area of <topic>?

9:10 – 9:20 a.m. Threats

Next, talk about the surrounding threats to your topic area. Here are some conversation prompts to get you started.

Prompts What is standing in our community’s way of improvement? What weaknesses do you see as it pertains to <topic>? What barriers exist? What players need to step-up to the plate and take action?

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9:20 – 9:30 a.m. Needs Spend the next 10 minutes talking about what problems exist in our county as it relates to your topic area. Here are some conversation prompts to get you started.

Prompts What needs to change to see the needle tick in the right direction? What needs are present as it relates to your topic? If you could have any resource you wanted to solve your issue, what would it be?

9:30 – 9:40 a.m. Players

One of the key goals of THINKBIG is to share our community’s BIG ideas with the right people who can turn the ideas into reality. Make a list of organizations and people that work in your topic area that should receive your group’s ideas. Here are some conversation prompts to get you started.

Prompts Who do you know that is working in this field? What organizations do you know working in this field? Who needs to be engaged to improve <topic> in our community? What organizations or people need to collaborate to advance this area? Are there too many or not enough players working in this field?

9:40 – 10:10 a.m. BIG Ideas and Solutions

Now, start brainstorming BIG ideas to solve these community needs. Think creatively. No idea is bad. No idea is too small. We are all here to discuss what our community can do differently to create real change. As a reminder, please refrain from saying that an idea has been tried before and didn’t work. Sometimes all it takes is someone different implementing the idea or tweaking the idea slightly to make a positive impact. Here are some conversation prompts to get you started.

Prompts What can we do together to generate positive solutions to our topic area? What can we do individually or collectively to address these needs? What are some potential solutions to the problem(s) we’ve identified today? What can we do individually to promote our topic?

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What steps need to be taken to make a potential solution a reality? What can children do to solve this issue? What can you do?

10:10 – 10:15 a.m. Wrap-up

Spend the next five minutes quickly wrapping up today’s THINKBIG conversation. Thank your guests for participating. Share that you hope they found the conversation to be engaging and worthwhile and they leave here today feeling optimistic about the future of Stark County. Encourage guests to share contact information with one another if they want to stay connected and take action together. Mention that today’s discussion and ideas will be collected, analyzed and developed into a written report by The Center for Community Solutions, a nonpartisan Northeast Ohio think tank focused on solutions to health, social and economic issues. The findings will be released in early 2020.

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Survey As a facilitator, it’s critical that you share your insight and feedback on what was discussed today during your community conversation. Encourage guests to fill out a short survey that captures the essence of your discussion and BIG ideas to strengthen Stark County. Guests can either fill out a paper survey or complete the survey online at thinkbigstark.com. Take a few minutes to complete the survey now, while the information is still top of mind. If for some reason a guest needs to leave early, encourage them to fill out the survey online at their earliest convenience. If any, please return completed paper surveys to Stark Community Foundation.

RULES FOR ENGAGEMENT

1. Be good listeners. Facilitators are not required to be experts on the topic at hand, but guides in structure and advocacy; never ones to say “we tried that before and it didn’t work.”

2. Try to stay on topic. We realize your conversations will stray, but try to bring it back after you notice the conversation is naturally straying off course permanently.

3. Take notes. You will also have a placemat in front of you to keep your group on task, but feel free to bring a laptop and type away. Gather what the placemat holds—strengths, threats, needs, players and BIG ideas. Don’t worry, you are not the only note taker. We encourage you to participate, but your main role is to guide the conversation and listen.

4. Encourage everyone to participate. And, to expand on their thoughts. Conversation prompts are included in the Suggested Conversation Timeline starting on page 5.

5. No judgment allowed. Any idea is a step in the right direction and no idea is too small or too BIG!

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6. Avoid politics at all costs. Use diversion tactics such as asking someone else to speak, switching the subject, etc.

7. Advocate. Tweet, post and share your conversation by using the hashtag #THINKBIGStark before, during and after your event.

DATA COLLECTION AND RESULTS It is important that you and your guests share your experiences, BIG ideas and feedback through a brief survey. This information will be helpful as we work together as a community to implement BIG ideas that have the potential to move our community forward. This critical data will be compiled and analyzed by The Center for Community Solutions, a nonpartisan Northeast Ohio think tank focused on solutions to health, social and economic issues. The findings of THINKBIG will be released in early 2020. MARKETING TIPS AND RESOURCES We will promote all community conversations as best we can. Public conversations will be more visible with online registration available at thinkbigstark.com. Private conversations will be publicized online, but we won’t provide specific details on date, time or location. Keep in mind people may contact you directly to sign up anyways. We have developed a number of turn-key resources for you to utilize when spreading the word about your conversation. FACILITATOR TOOLKIT Each facilitator will receive a bag of supplies to make your conversation fun, interesting and inviting. Each toolkit will include:

• 12 name tags • 12 pens • 12 placemats • 1 black marker • 1 table tent • 1 piece of chalk • 1 Strengthening Stark report • 2 welcome signs

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MARKETING TIPS TO PROMOTE YOUR CONVERSATION • Create your own guest list whether a public or private conversation and draft a plan for

outreach (email, text, phone call, etc.). • Display a Sign-Up Sheet at your office, business and/or hosting location. Make sure to

check the sheet daily and register new participants online – this is so important to regulate numbers for your conversation and space!

• Post on social media about your conversation and THINKBIG in general. Utilize the graphics and sample messages we have provided you (also available online at thinkbigstark.com) and be sure to include the hashtag #THINKBIGStark

• Promote the event on your website, in printed publications and through email communication.

• Post flyers on community boards and/or at your hosting location. • Customize a news release to suit your conversation by utilizing our sample, email the

release to local media outlets and share online.

RESOURCES • Sample Messages • Graphics • News Release • Sign-Up Sheet • Sign-In Sheet

SAMPLE MESSAGES Join <organization> on October 25th for a community conversation on <topic> as part of the county-wide initiative #THINKBIGStark. Through thoughtful and honest conversations among residents, we can build a stronger community. RSVP today at <registration link>. Join us for #THINKBIGStark, a county-wide event designed to give residents a voice and find real solutions to real problems while celebrating the good in our community. Learn more at <registration link>. On October 25th, residents will come together in libraries, restaurants, office breakrooms, coffee shops, homes and everywhere in between to brainstorm solutions to community needs while celebrating the good in Stark County. Join <Organization> to explore how we can advance <topic> in our community during #THINKBIGStark. Register today at <registration link>. <Organization> is participating in this year’s #THINKBIGStark because we care about our community’s future. Join us as we THINKBIG about how to improve <topic> on October 25th. RSVP now: <registration link> #THINKBIGStark is on October 25th and we want you to be a part of it! Let your voice be heard – come tell us how to make our community stronger. Join our conversation centered on <topic> at <registration link>.

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On October 25th, people from all walks of life from across Stark County will come together to discuss how we can strengthen our community as part of #THINKBIGStark. We want you to participate in our conversation on <topic>! Seats are limited. Join our conversation today at <registration link>. Let’s explore together how we can strengthen <topic> in Stark County at this year’s #THINKBIGStark. Join our conversation today at <registration link>. Stark County, let’s talk <topic>! Join us on October 25th to celebrate what’s working and brainstorm how we can improve in this area as part of #THINKBIGStark. Register online at <registration link>. GRAPHICS Visit thinkbigstark.com to download a variety of images you can share online such as Facebook cover photos, Instagram images, Twitter in-stream photos and more.

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NEWS RELEASE <Organization> to Host THINKBIG Conversation on <Topic> on October 25 For Immediate Release: <City>, Ohio – <Organization> is hosting a THINKBIG community conversation centered on <topic> from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 25 at <location name / address>. Organized by Stark Community Foundation and Strengthening Stark, THINKBIG is a day of county-wide community conversations. The inaugural event is designed to give residents a voice and bring people together to brainstorm solutions to community needs while celebrating the good in Stark County. On this one day, more than 170 community conversations will take place across Stark County with approximately 1,700 diverse individuals who care about our community and its future. Residents will come together in libraries, restaurants, office breakrooms, coffee shops, homes and everywhere in between to share their experiences, thoughts and ideas on how to strengthen Stark County. Anyone who lives, works, learns and plays in Stark County is encouraged to attend. Seats are limited and registration is required. RSVP today at www.thinkbigstark.com.

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Join us for the inaugural THINKBIG, a county-wide event designed to bring neighbors together to find real solutions to real problems while celebrating the good in our community. Topic of Discussion:

When:

Facilitated by:

Host Organization:

Where:

SIGN-UP SHEET

Name Email Address Phone Number Organization (if applicable)

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Thank you for participating in the inaugural THINKBIG! We are excited you are here.

Please sign in below. THINKBIG is a county-wide event designed to bring neighbors together to find real solutions to real problems while celebrating the good in our community.

SIGN-IN SHEET

Name Email Address Phone Number Organization (if applicable)