Kettering Foundation Taps HRCCE

NEWS RELEASE
DATE:  May 19, 2011                    
CONTACT:  Betsy McBride, 757.617.9253

A regional non-profit organization, the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement (HRCCE), has been invited to join the Kettering Foundation’s “family” of Centers for Civic Life.  This prestigious designation comes in recognition of HRCCE’s work to include citizens in public problem solving.  

By accepting the invitation, HRCCE has agreed to enter into a “joint learning relationship” with the Kettering Foundation and other Centers for Civic Life.  This includes collaboration on research and processes designed to answer Kettering’s two central questions “What does it take for democracy to work as it should? and What does it take for citizens to shape their collective future?”   

HRCCE is one of nine new Kettering-related Centers currently working in unison on the public issue of high school “drop-out” rates.  To gather community views and data, HRCCE Board members are conducting interviews and also inviting online responses to a survey posted on the organization’s website at http://www.hrcce.org

The Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement was founded four years ago to “change the way public decisions are made in the region” with start-up funding provided by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.  Organizational projects  include partnering with the City of Virginia Beach to involve all citizens interested in “envisioning” their city’s transportation future and an effort with the City of Hampton to provide a public process for Hampton citizens to consider and then generate community recommendations related to flooding, stormwater management and other waterway issues. Project sites:  http://www.envisiontransportation.com and http://www.hamptonengages.com

The Kettering Foundation is an independent, internationally-known research organization dedicated to understanding how institutions “relate to citizens trying to make a difference in shaping their common future.”

The mission of the Hampton Roads Center is “to support sustainable deliberative democracy in Hampton Roads and to connect public decision making with civil dialogue and the informed judgment of the region’s citizens.”