What a way to step into the fall season and the start of the unofficial work year! We’re talking about the 2018 IAP2 North American Conference in Victoria, Canada, which boasted the highest attendance of any of the conferences so far! And so, revved-up like a “deuce”, 

In this action-packed installment, you’ll find:

• Features:  President Leah Jaramillo with her reflections on the Conference; an important message from the Federation’s Presiding Member; we’ll meet one of the Steering Committee members for the 2019 conference; and if you want to expand your involvement in and influence on IAP2 USA, the nomination period is about to open for the new Board!
• Events: we look back on the Conference, with pictures and presentations, and tease you a bit about next year’s edition; congratulations to the Core Values Award winners; our Webinar Rewind looks at the tricky route map for P2 and Public Transportation; and our Webinar On-Deck dives into building P2 in your organization. We also have the lineup for the next IAP2 USA Skills Symposium, coming back to Austin, Texas!
• Interesting Links: The New York Times looks at how e-connected Americans are; Participatory Budgeting is on the ballot in New York City; and can a “tent revival” bring a resurgence of centrism in the UK?

Features:

President's Message: Leah Jaramillo

In the days leading up to the North American Conference, the IAP2 USA Board held its face-to-face meeting and discussed organizational sustainability, the new Ambassador Program, the 2019 IAP2 NAC Conference in Charlotte, NC and looked to the future as we prepare for board nomination period opening on October 17. … Any organization as widespread as ours must continually assess the way we work together to meet member needs and advocate for good practice. This process has been ongoing since 2017 and with the input of the regional boards and the international board, the change committee came up with seven strategic priority areas and a series of recommendations that will enable us to reshape our international collaborative network that lives and abides by the IAP2 core values.

Passionate for P2? Be part of the Board!

Are you enthusiastic about P2 -- not just the practice, but promoting it across the country? Are you looking for a way to lend your skills and expertise to the cause? We urge you to consider standing for the IAP2 USA Board of Directors! In particular, we’re looking for people in the following areas of expertise: 

• Administration and non-profit management
• Fundraising Financial management 
• Governance 
• Communications and strategic marketing 
• Collaboration and Outreach
• International relations (IAP2 experience required)
  

We are looking to fill six seats. The Nomination Period runs from October 17 through November 7. Interested - please take a look at the website for more information.

IAP2 MEMBER PROFILE: Marquita Mbonu

POSITION: Community Relations Analyst, City of Raleigh, North Carolina; member, 2019 IAP2 North American Conference Planning Committee

I worked for a non-profit that did a lot of juvenile justice outreach and education. One of the main focus areas was how create a continuum of care for youth who found themselves in the juvenile court system. They might get into a fight at school, or involved with drugs: maybe there’d be mental health issues involved. They would be assigned to a court counselor, but there was a lot of time between identifying the problem and anything being done about it.

Ambassador Program Update

2,740. Two thousand seven hundred and forty. That’s how many pieces of IAP2 literature are being shipped off to Ambassadors across the country. Our Ambassadors will be distributing postcards and brochures and engaging decision makers on a range of issues including incorporating P2 into planning, public works, and environmental policy.

IAP2’S CHANGE JOURNEY: The Next Chapter

As you may be aware, for the past year, IAP2 has been going through an important and ambitious change-journey. At the IAP2 North American Conference in Victoria, the Federation Board, with its representatives from the six regions, distilled and discussed the input received via our online engagement platform. The result is seven endorsed strategic areas and 36 endorsed recommendations. And now it’s your turn again: we need your expertise and experience to help us consider and explore the detail required to reshape IAP2.

Share skills and knowledge in the IAP2 USA Mentorship Program!

One of the traits of many IAP2 members is a passion for sharing what they know. (It’s #10 on the IAP2 Code of Ethics: mentoring new practitioners.) The IAP2 USA Mentorship Program is a wonderful opportunity for veteran practitioners (mentors) to work closely with newcomers (protégés) over a nine-month period, meeting virtually and if possible face to face. Those who’ve been on the program in the past say the benefits flow both ways. The application period is now open, and closes October 12. The new “cycle” will begin in mid-October and run through next June.

Events:

2018 IAP2 NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE RECAP

Nearly 400 participants from around the world! Sessions, workshops and field trips that made us think more deeply about the Public Participation practice and how to grow a “culture of P2”!

The 2018 North American Conference brought fresh insight on the notion of “Growing a Culture of P2”. For those that were there and for those that couldn’t make it, check out the program and the Schedule-at-a-Glance. AND for your professional development we have now included the powerpoints and other materials, provided by the presenters, so please go to the website to learn more.

We have to give a HUGE thank-you to the many people who made it possible! In particular Catherine Rockandel and Lisa Moilanen, Conference Co-Chairs,the Steering Committee, the Local Fun Committee, the Programming Committee; on-site volunteers, staff, vendors at our Artisans’ Market and our sponsors!! And of course - THANK YOU to all those who came to Victoria and made it the best-attended conference yet!

The gauntlet is dropped for Charlotte, North Carolina, site of the 2019 IAP2 North American Conference! Start making your plans now, and SAVE THE DATES: Sept. 4 - 6, 2019.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CORE VALUES AWARD WINNERS!

A public engagement process that impressed everyone, from activists to lawmakers to ordinary citizens, is the 2018 IAP2 USA Project of the Year! The work connected to Williams Energy’s Atlantic Sunrise pipeline -- going through ten counties in Eastern Pennsylvania -- won Project of the Year and the General Project award for Williams, the Williams Foundation and Outreach Experts. Watch the video here. This project will now compete against Projects of the Year from other IAP2 Affiliates around the world. Those winners will be announced in October at the IAP2 Australasia Conference in Queensland.

TriMet -- the public transportation agency in the Portland, Oregon, area -- and JLA Public Involvement won the award for Respect for Diversity, Inclusion and Culture. Watch their video here.

The Core Values Awards also featured the Greater Good Award, which was inaugurated last year in Denver. This year, the award went to Barbara Lewis, and to the Certification Task Force.

A new award this year was the Greater Good - Emerging Leader Award, recognizing the contributions of an up-and-coming P2 practitioner/advocate -- under age 35 and/or with less than five years’ experience. The first recipient was Francesca Patricolo. (Read Leah’s remarks ).

Register now for the 2019 Skills Symposium

Get ready to kick off the New Year with some fresh ideas or refreshed thinking! The IAP2 USA Skills Symposium is coming back to Austin, Texas, February 25 through March 1, with some brand new courses and some gee-I-wish-I’d-taken-that favorites! Register before December 14 to get the early-bird pricing, and book at our host hotel, The Lone Star Court, by February 8, to get the special IAP2 Symposium block rate (use promo code 2SS395).

Webinar(s):