Bring community leaders AND community citizens together to share, express, and decide what human relations needs exist in Montgomery County and to begin the work of teaching people how to sustain on-going dialogue and action around these issues. The participant goal is 150-200. We will send out 1,000 invitations to reach that target.

Well, since no community is entirely related by kinship or family ties, how do we find relevance in one another and in what spirit do we associate and connect with one another? The HRC, a volunteer organization set up by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in the early 1990's, has at its core, a desire to help the community build intentional relations between different groups of people that strengthen with time. Whether the difference is in religion, race, culture, gender, geography, ability, politics, education, sexual orientation, business, how we view the environment or desire to use land does not matter: we all live "here" and here matters. This County is home to SOmany important and varied people. The HRC is a resource and serves to facilitate the skill learning, space, and time it sometimes takes to come together around the challenges of simply living in community and understanding one another.

The HRC has three common goals for the community convocation. These goals will allow community members to develop personal contacts to build support and create strategies for stronger human relations.

• 1) Gauge current human relations progress within the County and define remaining human relations issues. 2) Plan how to build understanding of difference and facilitate the education of how to manage difference in our community. This plan will include specific follow up workshops geared to the most pressing human relations issues identified by convocation participants.
• 3) Ask the community to learn how to dialogue about tough issues and view understanding multiple perspectives as our greatest strength and the best gift we can offer our children.

A workshop titled "Two Frameworks in a Space" uses "open space technology," an interactive group model devised by Harrison Owen, to teach participants first HOW to dialogue and then HOW to practice dialogue that promotes inclusion and understanding in community building and change. Facilitators define dialogue and teach participants how to listen and respond in dialogue, realizing the barriers to inclusive conversation. Participants break out into self-selected groups to gain different perspectives on topics the HRC and facilitators feel the community should address and practice the process they have just learned. Finally, participants gain ownership of the workshop in that individuals put forth topics for dialogue practice. This models inclusion, control, and competence. Ultimately, the whole group and small group processes engage participants in:

• defining dialogue and what interrupts open dialogue exploring diversity and multiple perspectives encouraging empathy and understanding of difference understanding how to be agents of change learning how to listen building inclusive teams
• establishing county-wide capacity to work on human relations issues/concerns

Outcomes that spill over from the convocation are just as important to the growth of the County as the goals set forth by the HRC:

• Participants gain a greater sense of how local government works and what organizations serve as resources for it. Current county organizations that work hard on a daily basis to address various barriers that keep people from reaching their full potential benefit tremendously from the shared efforts, materials, and goals the convocation offers and creates. Evaluations by participants inform the HRC and the community regarding what was most helpful about the convocation, what needs improving, and what is vital to successful follow-up in two key workshops.
• In particular, the HRC becomes a well tapped into resource as people and populations identify their needs and ask for direct assistance in moving through an issue in a community sustaining way. To that end, a community database of organizations and contacts is being established; closer ties and continued conversation through information sharing on updated web pages and an active listserv will enhance the follow-up and decrease both future mailing and coordination costs of action steps.

HRC Co-Chairs Penny Franklin (382-2310) and Bob Stuart (552-2258), respectively, or Project Coordinator Irene Lamb (961-1523)