This was supposed to be our final show in the series on the Seven Capitals; however, it has been so packed with information and insight that we decided to extend it for another month! Bob Riley Jr., my co-host and I, believe there is value in hosting a few more shows to focus on communities who are utilizing the Seven Capitals framework in real time. We hope this will illustrate how important the complete interconnection of all the capitals is to successful, resilient, and sustainable communities.
Through all the discussions with our guests, our goal is to dream of a post-Covid, aspirational world where we look for ways to collaborate on positive, practical paths forward through the connected strength of the Seven Capitals - Natural, Social, Financial, Political, Human, Cultural, and Built, as laid out by Flora and Flora.
In this episode, we are bringing all the capitals together by focusing on the Des Moines metro area – an urban setting. Leaders in Des Moines have been operating with guidance from Capital Crossroads — A Vision Forward for most of the past ten years. Our distinguished guests for this discussion are:
- Angela Connolly, a highly active and engaged Polk County Supervisor since 1998 and a Tri-chair for Capital Crossroads
- Emily Kessinger, Capital Crossroads Director since January 2020 who brings 10 years of experience in communications and project management to the role.
As stated in the Community Capitals Framework as a Measure of Community Development article,
“A community capitals approach allows us to view the various elements, resources, and relationships within a community and their contribution to the overall functioning of the community. Once the community capitals are identified, they can be used as a tool for planning for the future.”
Today’s discussion brings in real examples of how this is working in Des Moines.
Key Takeaways:
- Improving cooperation and collaboration among leaders of the various capitals allows more people to be looped in to help drive important projects
- Progress can be made simultaneously on the ‘low hanging fruit’ projects from various capitals but the big projects that require a lot of time, energy and financial backing still need to be prioritized
- Most major projects now see the value in bringing in all the capitals to move them forward
- There are lots of parallel tracks and we need to get everyone on the same track
- The magic happens when you sit still within the intersections
“Coming together is a beginning,
Keeping together is progress,
Working together is success”
~ Henry Ford
“Alone, we can do so little;
Together we can do so much.”
~ Helen Keller
Thank you for listening to today’s discussion. Let’s continue to engage and learn from each other.