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The Road and Rationale Leading to
Our “Fledgling” Organization
by Betsy McBride

 

The genesis of the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement was an initiative designed and managed by Jim Babcock and the regional group - Future of Hampton Roads. Because it is broadly acknowledged that geographic regions are the “economic engines” of the future, the goal for the initiative was to look for opportunities for efficiencies that would make the Hampton Roads region as a whole, more competitive.

The search for efficiencies was conducted by sub-committees charged to explore all sorts of public service functions ranging from work-force development to marketing for tourism. While looking for methods to increase the competiveness of the region, there was a growing recognition that the most important asset for any region is its citizens. They provide for the creativity and all of the forward progress.

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Betsy McBride is the immediate past Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement. She has been a practitioner and advocate for citizen involvement in public decision making since the early 1970s.

Education: B.A. in Political Science, Minor in Economics, University of Denver

Education Related: Adjunct faculty appointment, University of Denver; Metro Internship Leadership Program, University of Minnesota

Governmental Appointments:

• Community Leaders Network, the U.S. Department of Energy
  Appointed by U. S. Deputy Asst. Secretary of Energy
• Board Member, Colorado Center for Environmental Management
  Appointed by Governor Roy Romer (CO)
• Hazardous Wastes Regulation Committee
  Appointed by Governor Richard Lamm (CO)
• City Transportation Committee
  Appointed by Mayor of DeKalb, IL
• City Recycling Committee
  Appointed by Mayor of DeKalb, IL
• Illinois citizen representative for Federal Energy Administration (FEA)
  Appointed by FEA Administrator
• Tribal and Stakeholder Working Group
  Appointed by U. S. Deputy Asst. Secretary of Energy

League of Women Voters Leadership:

• State President, League of Women Voters of Colorado
• State Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Colorado
• State Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
• State Energy Chair, League of Women Voters of Illinois
• Community Information Project Manager, League of Women Voters of Illinois
• Board, League of Women Voters of Boise, Idaho
• Board, League of Women Voters of Keokuk, Iowa
• Vice-president, League of Women Voters of Quincy, Illinois
• Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Schaumburg, Illinois
• Vice-president, League of Women Voters of DeKalb, Illinois
• Board, League of Women Voters of Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Vice-President, League of Women Voters of Arapahoe County, Colorado
• Board, League of Women Voters of South Hampton Roads
• Author, publication for League of Women Voters of the U.S.
• Advisory committee, publication for League of Women Voters of the U.S.  

Other Boards and Advisory Committees:

• Board, Women's Resources Center, Arapahoe County Community College
• Board, Central City Opera Guild
• Board, Women's Forum (Hampton Roads)
• Elder, First Presbyterian Church, Boise, ID
• Elder, Presbyterian Church, Hoffman Estates, IL
• State Steering Committee, Colorado Environmental Quality Institute
• Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Committee (radioactive waste clean-up)
• Citizen Advisory Committee on Risk, Medical University of South Carolina
• State advisory committee on judicial campaign ethics, Pennsylvania

Miscellaneous Community Activities:

• Co-chair of state meeting on women and political action (Idaho)
• Newspaper column in small local paper (Hamilton Pilot)
• Consulting on city recycling in Minnesota
• Lobbied in Washington, D.C. for the Clean Air Act
• Testimony before Colorado legislative committees
• Project manager, town meetings on hazardous wastes, organized for governor
• Planning committee, state ballot initiative
• Paid staff for 2 statewide campaigns

Work Experience:

• Media and Communications Coordinator, Office of the City Manager, City of Virginia Beach, VA  
• Assistant Executive Director, Search for Common Ground, USA Washington, D.C.
• Public Affairs Consultant
• Director of Communications, Colorado Center for Environmental Management Denver, CO
• Corporate Government Relations, The Pillsbury Company, Minneapolis, MN

Odd job:
Appointed to Federal technology selection panel and asked to review all applications for inclusion of appropriate design for community involvement

Awards:

• Public Interest Award for "Expanding Public Participation"
• National award for "Outstanding Achievement in Local Government Innovation"

Interesting Contribution:

• Author of Public Involvement Principles adopted by the Western Governors' Association

Presentations and Training sessions:

• Training session, "Libraries and Civic Engagement," Public Library Association,
  National Conference, Minneapolis, MN - 2008
• Presentation, "Public Voices on Redevelopment," The Innovations Group,
  Annual National Conference, Bellevue, WA - 2007
• Facilitator, White House Crime Technology Initiative Forum, Executive Office of
  the President, Washington, D.C. - 2000
• Speech, "Involving the Public in Environmental Decision Making," Southeastern
  States Energy Board, Oak Ridge, TN - 1998
• Presentation to IRS Director - Invited by The Gallup Organization,
  Washington,D.C. - 1998
• Panelist, "Public Participation," National Forum for Black Public Administrators,
  Annual Conference, Kansas City - 1997
• Planner/facilitator, "Transportation Workshop," Susquehanna Conference,
  Harrisburg, PA - 1994
• Panelist, Eleventh Annual Good Government Seminar, Pennsylvania State Senate,
  Harrisburg, PA - 1994
• Presentation, "Letting the Public In: Citizen Access to the Decision making Process,"
  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Denver - 1994
• Panelist, "Citizen Participation," Environmental Restoration and Waste
  Management Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Energy - 1993
• Training session "The Debate Game," Newpapers in Education Program,
  The Denver Post - 1993
• Training session "Effective Media Relations," League of Women Voters of
  the United States, National Convention - 1992
• Training session, "Taking the Initiative," Americans for the Environment,
  Denver - 1992
• Presentation, "Education As An Agent for Change," Northern Illinois University
  1980
• Presentation, "Community Organizing," Ford Foundation Community Seminar,
  Idaho - 1972 

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Rob Edwards - Administrative Director

Rob Edwards has been a resident of Norfolk since 1997.  He graduated from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, and then earned a master's degree in education and administration from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.  He has been active in the faith-based sector for more than 20 years, working with local churches, community ministries, and military chaplaincy in Kentucky and Virginia.

Currently Rob serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Portsmouth Area Resources Coalition. Prior to coming to HRCCE, Rob was instrumental in brokering a partnership between the City of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and World Changers, which completed more than $750,000 in housing repairs to owner-occupied low- to moderate-income family homes in Cradock and Truxtun. He also has worked with AngelFood Ministries, a food co-op that processed and distributed over 500,000 pounds of food in just  two years.  His focus and passion is to mobilize local congregations to engage their neighborhoods to bring about community transformation.

Rob makes his home in the Ocean View community in Norfolk, along with his wife, two kids, and four cats.

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Mike Rau - Communications Consultant

Since 1985, Mike Rau has worked in just about every genre and field of mass media imaginable, including the music industry, public relations, politics, radio as both a DJ and a talk show host, TV news as both an assignment editor and Web editor, and print media as a columnist for a daily newspaper.

Rau left WAVY-TV in November of 2008 after nine years, the last two and a half as senior Internet editor. Since then, he's built a reasonably successful business providing consulting services in mass communications to a broad range of clients.

A highly experienced and well respected journalist and writer, Rau also possesses advanced skills in all aspects of website and Web content creation. In addition, he is an adept audio engineer and video producer, as well as being a modestly talented musician.

More information about Mike Rau is available on his website HERE