Leadership and focus - two key ingredients to achieving progress on a community issue.  Someone needs to get the conversation started, bring the interested parties together, and guide the efort to its next stage or its conclusion.  Without leadership and focus, the interested parties will not be able to achieve as much or proceed as quickly, or as economically, as they could if they worked together.

The Mayor's Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety would be one example of this concept in action.  Mayor Dianne Watts has spent a considerable amount of time guiding and contributing to the work of this Task Force.  Numerous community leaders and agencies dealing with crime contributed to the analysis, investigations and recommendations.  The most recent tangible outcome is a comprehensive strategy pulling together many related stakeholders to address one issue.  If we're going to successfully reduce crime in this City, that's the type of approach we need.

Similarly, one of the roles of a local community foundation is to provide leadership on issues of broad community concern.  Because community foundations support all kinds of local charities, as discussed in my last column, we are well positioned to bring people together to address local issues and opportunities.

Building community is another way of describing this function, and it's something the Surrey Foundation has been working on lately.  We recently established a community liaison team consisting of individuals who have an interest in: getting the word out about community foundations, helping the Surrey Foundation determine the community's current and upcoming needs and projects, and building community by providing leadership within Surrey.

If you or someone you know is interested in providing this type of leadership, contact us at 604.591.2699 or send an email to info@surreyfoundation.org.  You may find we have just the right opportunity for you to make a difference in this city.