Wnca Kicks Off Renewed Focus on Grassroots Advocacy

Staff reports

Western North Carolina Alliance (WNCA) members will gather May 2 to adopt a new strategic plan and to renew the group’s focus on grassroots education and training as a first step toward implementing its new mission: empowering citizens to be advocates for the livable communities and natural environment of Western North Carolina.

Education and training workshops will include Basic Citizenship, Public Speaking, Grassroots Organizing and Advocacy 101, led by long-time community organizer and WNCA member Monroe Gilmore; and Growth Management Basics, led by Stacy Guffey, a former Macon County Planner and the new land use expert for WNCA.

“This meeting marks an important moment for WNCA and its members,”
says WNCA Steering Committee Chair, D. J. Gerken. “We have led our
membership through a very thoughtful process of re-assessing our
mission, creating important guiding principles and formulating new
strategic objectives and key initiatives that will guide WNCA’s work
for the next several years.”

Developing a new strategic plan was one of the first goals of
Executive Director Julie Mayfield upon her arrival in June 2008 from
Atlanta, where she was Vice President and General Counsel at the
Georgia Conservancy. Mayfield, with family roots in Jackson County,
wanted to build a plan that would reflect current issues and challenges
while providing guidance on how the Alliance can become a healthier,
more sustainable organization in the future.

“Many environmental concerns today arise from the use and
development of private land,” notes Mayfield. “WNCA is prepared to
address these concerns with thoughtful advocacy that is no less
vigorous than our historic efforts to protect the natural resources and
communities that make this region so appealing.” The new strategic plan
focuses on growth management and protecting the region’s water supply,
in addition to public lands protection.

The Spring Gathering is open to the public and will take place
at the Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. The cost is $10
for WNCA members, $20 for non-members (registration includes a one-year
membership). Registration begins at 9:15 a.m., and workshops run from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

To register or for more information, contact WNCA at (828)
258-8737 or email WNCA Vista Volunteer Rachael Bliss at
[email protected].