“EPIC Toledo is an organization that works to attract and retain young professional talent to our region. EPIC, which stands for engaging people, inspiring change, also strives to develop future business and community leaders.” www.epictoledo.com
On Wednesday November 1, 2012, Mayor Bell and Future of Toledo (FoT) Emerging Leader Co-Chairs, Aaron Baker & Rose Toth Gallardo, engaged close to 70 area leaders at the EPIC Toledo Summit held at the Toledo Club. The purpose was to have a conversation with Mayor Bell regarding the city and region’s progress and future plans, and for leaders to speak with Mayor Bell on behalf of their community.
Mayor Bell and Co-Chairs at Epic Summit
Rose Toth Gallardo began by sharing the progress FoT has made this year, by listening to community leaders to get a pulse of what is going on in Toledo. FoT has had three big group meetings, and each one involved smaller design groups to help make these meetings successful. At FoT’s last big group meeting in September, we started to focus on 2013, and what do we want to do. We are planning another large meeting in January to form action teams behind the 2013 goals, and to discuss if the focus has changed, or if there are newer things that the people want. We are looking for more leaders to join the conversation.
Aaron Baker discussed the role of Emerging Leaders in the Future of Toledo initiative, and stated that FoT needs your help to grow our Emerging Leader group, and to be a part of forming our action groups to achieve the 2013 goals. Mr. Baker talked about the Strategic Action Plan – 2013. Specifically, he pointed out that the first action, to Advance the City’s Brand & Community Engagement through Social Media, is already in action. He introduced Andrew Rinaldi who is working to get the message out through social media. Mr. Baker stressed the importance to develop our brand, and expressed that the challenge to the city is that people don’t really believe that we are all we can be in Toledo.
Mayor Bell Speaking with Session Attendees
Mayor Bell talked about leaders being the core to these Strategic Initiatives. He expressed that our mission needs to be to create initiatives that are sustainable. These initiatives need to last longer than the Mayor. All of these goals came from talking to people, and the young leaders of the city are going to be the ones who determine what this city is going to look like in the future. The Mayor talked about attitude. He said that we can make Toledo tier one city, we may feel that we aren’t, but we are. To have a vision we need to look way out into the future. We can be anything we want to be. We need to have comfort that the stars are aligned for you to be bold. He expressed that he needs your help. He can’t do this unless he knows what you want.
Attendees at Tables in Conversation
The leaders in attendance discussed their reactions, questions, and suggestions with others at their tables for a few minutes: EPIC Table Discussion Summary. Mayor Bell finished the meeting by addressing some of the group’s questions directly.
To view the full recording of the Epic Summit session, go to www.thefutureoftoledo.com/live.
