2011 Scholarship Award Recipients
Students Ranisha Clendenning, Najeana Little and Tatyana Williams were each awarded $1,000 in scholarship money. (Williams was not in attendance as she was in Washington, D.C. for an internship.)
“We are here to celebrate you and your achievements,” NCBEMO Scholarship Chair Cora Cole-McFadden, Durham council member, said to the students. “Hang in there. We know you will succeed.”
Guest speaker Andrea Harris, president of Durham-based N.C. Institute of Minority Economic Development, urged the group of local government officials to rethink their governing strategy in the wake of tough economic times.
“To local units of government—remember you are a business…a business that is public. I would look at my city or town as a holding company,” said Harris.
She said official should look carefully at the services their municipality provides.
“Make sure you get a return on your investment and not look at your work through this altruistic lens.”
Harris continued her discussion by offering four principles officials should keep in mind:
-
Focus on removing self-imposed intrapersonal obstacles;
-
Remove interpersonal obstacles;
-
Remove environmental obstacles. “You don’t understand the landscape around you. You need to get intelligence flowing in and around you,” said Harris; and
-
Remove organizational obstacles. “When deciding who to let go…that would be the least productive around you,” Harris offered.
Later, speaker Lanea Foster, the city of Durham’s homeless services coordinator, gave members welcome news: there is money available for homeless prevention services. According to Foster, new legislation which revamps existing law doubles the amount of money available to the state this summer. Of the $29 million to be had by North Carolina, most of the funds are targeted at rural communities; however, this new legislation in general gives local governments of all shapes and sizes more opportunity to secure funds and say-so over how they distribute the money.
It’s important that the community weighs in on how the money is spent. There needs to be accountability to show how [communities] are actually dealing with the issue,” said Foster, who explained that in the past funds were given mostly to non-profits, which did not have to detail where or how the funds were spent.
The group rounded out the day with a goal-setting session, where it came up with a dozen statements. The group plans to spend the summer narrowing down the stated goals to those it believes are most achievable in the next five years.
The day also featured a luncheon with the scholarship recipients and a performance from the African drum and dance troupe Collage Dance Company of Durham and tour of some of the highlights found in the city.
