Nation's Cities - April 30, 2012

4 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
April 30, 2012

White House Honors Champions of Change for
Greening Cities and Towns

by Tammy Zborel
The White House honored
nine individuals on April 25
as Champions of Change for
Greening our Cities and Towns
as part of President Obama’s
“Winning the Future” initiative
( whitehouse.gov/champions).
These leaders have demonstrat-
ed a commitment to advancing
innovative approaches to pro-
mote energy efficiency, revital-
ize outdoor spaces and water-
ways and adopt transportation
solutions that conserve natural
resources, improve walkability
and improve other quality of
life aspects of towns and cities.

Dr. Cole spearheaded an initia-
tive to replant more than 8,000
trees and founded the non-
profit Galveston Island Tree
Conservancy to educate citizens
and raise funds for replanting.
Her central message to par-
ticipants and federal agencies at
the event was around shifting
current valuation of trees from
being about beautification and
aesthetics to recognition of trees
as critical infrastructure.
Workforce training and
skill development for green
jobs and emerging economic
opportunities were leading ele-
ments for programs in Atlanta,
Williamson and Flint.
Eric Mathis, founder and
director of The JOBS Project in
Williamston, offered a compel-
ling account of working with
the coal industry in rural West
Virginia to advance sustain-
ability goals and alleviate gen-
erational poverty by creating
mutually productive economic
links between the fossil fuel and
renewable energy industries and
the surrounding communities.
Leadership of local schools
and the active engagement of
youth was emphasized by many
of the champions and formally
recognized through the work
of Brian Kasher, manager of
environmental health and safety
for the Charlotte Mecklenburg
School District and Marian
Robidas, principal of Jonestown
Elementary School in the
Northern Lebanon School
District. Getting students out
into the community and into
nature were core elements of
success in instilling sustainabil-
ity values and messages, not
only with the students but also
as a strategy to engage with and
educate parents.

Details: The Champions of
Change program was created
as a part of President Obama’s
“Winning the Future” initia-
tive. Each week, a different sec-
tor is highlighted, and groups
of champions, ranging from
educators to entrepreneurs to
community leaders, are recog-
nized for the work they are
doing to serve and strengthen
their communities. To learn
more and review the profiles of
all the “Champions of Change”
please visit www.whitehouse.
gov/champions.
Upcoming Economic
Development Network
Webinar: Small
Business Financing

by Katie McConnell
The next bi-monthly
Economic Development (ED)
Network webinar will take
place on Wednesday, May 23,
at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time
and will focus on small busi-
ness financing and support
services.

Details: Register for the
May 23 webinar at my.nlc.
org/eweb under “Upcoming
Events.” Please contact J.
Katie McConnell at mccon
nell@nlc.org with any ques-
tions.
Local Officials Attend Mayoral
Summit on Afterschool

More than 50 local elected officials attended the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs’ Statewide Mayoral
Summit on Afterschool in Charlotte, N.C., earlier this month. Mayors and councilmembers learned about city-led efforts
to support young people in afterschool programs, new funding opportunities in the state and how to build a citywide
system of afterschool.