PHOENIX—The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership, a new, nonpartisan initiative to strengthen civic leadership in Arizona, has unveiled a web portal, azcivicleadership.org, offering resources to support all Arizonans’ civic engagement.
The Arizona Center for Civic Leadership was created in 2010 via a partnership between the Flinn Foundation and the Thomas R. Brown Foundations, a pair of philanthropic grantmaking organizations respectively based in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.
The Center’s website features a first-of-its-kind directory of local and regional leadership programs. The map-based directory offers descriptions, contact information, and links for some 50 Arizona organizations that prepare residents for civic-leadership roles in their communities.
“Across Arizona, many excellent leadership organizations are working at the local and regional level. One of our roles is to support their efforts and help them collaborate with each other,” said Nancy Welch, the Center’s director.
Besides the directory, the web portal also features:
• The Civic Leadership Conversation, a regularly updated blog that highlights proven problem-solving approaches, useful tools, and examples of successful collaborations;
• A calendar of upcoming events, both those sponsored by the Center and others sponsored by leadership organizations across Arizona;
• A curated selection of reports and resources that provide data, information, and insights about Arizona to help civic leaders and residents understand issues and develop solutions.
These and other elements of the site support the Center’s three core components:
• The Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy: designed to expand the cadre of Arizona’s future statewide leaders with the skills to address Arizona’s long-term challenges;
• The Arizona Civic Leadership Collaborative: designed to leverage and expand the efforts of local civic-leadership programs throughout the state;
• A Communication and Outreach program: designed to inform organizations and individuals about the importance of civic leadership and increase civic engagement among Arizonans.
“The web portal we have launched for the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership is a tool that can help stimulate a surge of commitment to civic leadership in our state,” said Flinn Foundation President and CEO Jack Jewett. “Only if all of us work together will Arizona in its second century be a place that enables our children and grandchildren to reach their potential and prosper.”
About the Flinn Foundation:
The Flinn Foundation is a Phoenix-based, private, nonprofit philanthropic endowment. It was established by Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Flinn in 1965 with the mission of improving the quality of life in Arizona. The nonprofit philanthropy supports the advancement of Arizona’s bioscience sector, the Flinn Scholars Program, the arts, and the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership.
About the Thomas R. Brown Foundation:
The Thomas R. Brown Foundations are dedicated to raising the quality of life for present and future generations through expanded understanding and application of economic principles in private and public decision making. The Foundations are also dedicated to advancing solutions to community problems through strategic grants, research, and policy analysis.