Hi there-

Just wanted to send this message concerning our civic-engagement opportunity
on to you and your groups. It's not too late to get involved in the Montana
Citizen Leaders program.

Thanks,

Alex Keenan
Director of Communications
Hopa Mountain

Dear Friends,

On Saturday, September 6, Bliss W. Browne, international speaker and founder
of Imagine Chicago, will kick off a five-part community leadership training
program entitled Montana Citizen Leaders in the Bozeman Public Library's
meeting room from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Montana Citizen Leaders workshop
series is free of charge and open to everyone who cares about making a
difference and wants to learn effective approaches for community engagement
and project management.

Through the Montana Citizen Leaders program organized by Hopa Mountain, a
Bozeman-based nonprofit, local community members have the opportunity to
propose an imaginative project that makes visible core values and assets of
the community, and develops local leadership and participation.  The
innovation can strengthen existing networks such as a scout group or a
parent club.  The more that the innovation builds on already existing
projects and structures and strengthens them, the better.  For example, a
group might organize a directory for their neighborhood, which would link
young adults to positive programs and volunteer opportunities.  Or they
could create a community service or neighborhood history program at a local
community center.  Through a series of Saturday workshops taught by Bliss
Browne and Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, executive director of Hopa Mountain,
participants learn how to develop their innovative ideas, organize and
implement imaginative community projects, and evaluate and sustain their
project's impact.

Participants are highly encouraged to commit to the full series of
workshops. The first workshop on Saturday, September 6 will provide an
overview of the Citizen Leader development process, and provide an
introduction and experience of the key approaches to gathering community
ideas, building project teams, and implementing and sustaining community
innovations that expand local engagement strategies. Additional program
dates are September 20 and 27 from 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., October 4 from 9
a.m. – 3 p.m., and November 1 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.  The Montana Citizen
Leaders workshop series is free of charge and advanced registration is
required.  Participants can register on-line at www.hopamountain.org or by
calling Hopa Mountain at 586-2455.

Bliss Browne has designed and facilitated dozens of collaborative
intergenerational projects, which have transformed communities,
incorporating appreciative inquiry and other strength-based approaches into
intergenerational civic projects that harness hope and imagination as
resources for public good.

The Montana Citizen Leaders workshop series is offered by Hopa Mountain, a
nonprofit that invests in citizen leaders who are working to improve
education, ecological health, and economic development.  The program is
offered in cooperation with Bozeman Public Library and One Book-One Bozeman.
The 2008 One Book – One Bozeman book selection is Mountains Beyond
Mountains:  The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by
Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Kidder.  This New York Times bestseller tells
the story of one man, Paul Farmer, who implemented his innovative idea to
deliver quality health care to some of the world's poorest people.

Dr. Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer
Hopa Mountain
(406) 586-2455
www.hopamountain.org

Whatever you can do,
or believe you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it.  -J. Goethe

CL2008_calendar_long_Bozeman.doc 42K Download

CITIZEN LEADERS training program for Bozeman.doc 60K Download

Montana Citizen Leaders registration form Bozeman 2008.doc 67K Download