Innovators Exchange

Stakeholder Engagement Strategies

Nate Anderson

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Common Understanding

• What does stakeholder engagement mean to you?

• Why do it?

Engaging Whom?

• Who are the stakeholders you think are critical to engage?

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Overcoming Barriers

•What makes stakeholder engagement so hard?

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Principles of Public Engagement*• Bring people into the process early• Go beyond the usual suspects• Listen more, talk less• Set a constructive, problem-solving tone• Start where people are• Avoid overly technical discussions• Offer choices for deliberation• Expect obstacles and resistances• Follow-up is critical

*Source: Public Agenda

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What works (and doesn’t)

1. What not to do

2. What works: The stakeholder engagement strategies you have used in the past