Community Voices

Leadership Development for Community Decision-Making

Community Voices develops leaders at the grassroots level. The program is designed to help limited-resource and other non-traditional leaders and organizations develop skills to solve problems in their communities. Participants engage in a series of learning experiences and then analyze those experiences to see how they apply to life situations. Community Voices and its companion program, Voices Reaching Vision, were created by Cooperative Extension at N.C. A&T, with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Participants can expect to develop:

• An underlying philosophy and belief that the group can make a difference if members work together
• A shared vision of what they want to achieve as a community group
• The ability to know about and connect to resources that can help them reach their shared vision
• Ways to work together effectively as a group and communicate members’ ideas to others
• A systematic problem-solving method to help members address community issues and needs
• An organizational structure to continue working on the group vision at the community level and on the county level after the training is completed

The program consists of four manuals and four videos. Excerpts from each manual are provided in links below.

Introduction to the Program and to Participatory Training (107 pp)

An overview of the program, its unique features and a training workshop for the staff of an organization

• Table of Contents
• Introduction to the Guide (Purpose, Objectives and How to Use the Guide)
• I. Introduction to Community Voices Program; II. Building a Community Leadership Base Through Training

Program Implementation Guide (127 pp)

A step-by-step guide for implementing the program in a community/county and a training workshop for existing leaders

• Table of Contents
• Introduction to this Guide (Purpose, Objectives and How to Use the Guide)

Participatory Training Guide for Community Co-Facilitators (Two volumes)

A two-volume training guide which contains detailed instructions for fifteen training sessions designated to enhance the skills and motivate emerging leaders to work on community issues.

• Volume 1 and Volume 2 Table of Contents

Volume 1

• Session 1: Working Together to Build a Strong Community

Volume 2

• Session 8: Learning to Solve our Community Problems Step by Step

Community Voices Videotape

A four-segment videotape that demonstrates how leaders and communities can work together to bring about change.

To order copies of this curriculum, please send a completed order form to Dr. Michelle Eley via mail or email. The complete program package costs $40.

Contact Information

Michelle Eley, Ph.D.
Community and Economic Development Specialist
North Carolina A&T State University
Cooperative Extension at A&T
P.O. Box 21928
Greensboro, N.C. 27420-1928
Phone: 336-334-7956

Email: mleley@ncat.edu