The Community Collaborative Forum was founded out of the successful Living in the Fire of Change conference that was held here in June at the Egyptian Theatre. At that conference, Global thinkers and Local leaders came together to engage the community in solution-based dialogue. We featured the very critical work of many nonprofit projects including Interfaith Sanctuary, Think Boise First, and others. The goal of the conference, and now with the ongoing monthly forum, is to gather a wide variety of leaders, businesspeople, councilpersons, community members, and individuals across all sectors of life and business to engage in honest evaluation of our needs and resources as a whole, and to find and enact creative pathways and actions to solve those very issues—all the while creating a greater sense of community and recognition of the importance of each person’s part in the process.

We see that reflection in President Obama’s town hall meetings and in his continuous belief that we must all take part in changing our systems for the better. We have modeled this forum so that it does three things specifically:

1. it helps the individual recognize his or her role in changing our community

2. It helps organizations and individuals connect with one another and discover where needs are, and resources are, in a structured way.

3. It highlights for the entire community, even those who do not attend, one important service organization per quarter that has accomplished a modeling of creative partnerships (i.e. Sustainable Futures partners the IDOC, IDOL and Recycling and Life Empowerment programs for incarcerated women)

The forum itself is a 2.5 hour collaborative that is a platform for synthesis, dissemination and dialogue, as well as a springboard for action. It is facilitated by a team of professionals and features guest experts from all sectors.

In our monthly newsletters and eblasts, we plan on featuring community partners and highlighting current creative and sustainable work happening in the Treasure Valley. Other special pieces of our project will include fundraisers, social nights, educational events and workshops, and adult and youth opportunities for volunteership and project proposals.

The forum has global advisors, including James O’Dea who was formerly the Washington DC offices Director of Amnesty International and current Fellow and former Pres. of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS).