Describing Our Why: Public Narrative as Professional Development for Community Boards

Abstract: In this session, attendees will learn about some of the professional development support provided for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Lifetime Eating and Physical Activity Practices (LEAP) Community Board, a group focused on expanding the quality, quantity, and accessibility of data about healthy eating and physical activity in Guilford County to support effective, equitable, and just community health decisions. LEAP Community Board members participate in some form of professional development at each meeting, most recently by building their public narrative and active listening skills wherever they live, work, play, and worship.

After a brief introduction to the Board, session attendees will shift their focus to the tools of public narrative development and a discussion of best practices and lessons learned for using these tools in their own campuses and communities.

Narrative: The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Lifetime Eating and Physical Activity Practices (LEAP) Community Board focuses on expanding the quality, quantity, and accessibility of data about healthy eating and physical activity in Guilford County to support effective, equitable, and just community health decisions. In its work, it routinely hears, discusses, and advises on research proposed by the higher education institutions who benefit from its perspective.

As the Board entered its sixth year, support staff explored different options for participants’ professional development. An established tool in community organizing, the development of public narratives for members and the board as a whole, was explored during the spring semester of 2023.

In this session, attendees will learn about public narratives as a community-building, -organizing, and -engagement tool, and discuss best practices and lessons learned during the presenters' many years of using Marshall Ganz’s public narrative toolkit as a capacity-building opportunity.