The Building Michigan Communities Conference offers a wide array of opportunities to learn and grow in the community economic development industry. The conference will be held April 29-May 1 at the Lansing Center in Lansing, and CEDAM plays an integral part in the planning process, with many of our dedicated and well-versed staff leading sessions that we are excited to share with participants.
These conference sessions are sure to spark conversation, encourage growth and ideas between your current colleagues and new relationships formed through networking. Read through the highlighted sessions below, and join us at our Annual Membership Celebration to continue the conversation and help CEDAM celebrate 15 years. The event will take place on Tuesday, April 30 at 5:00 p.m. Be sure to register concurrently with the conference or ala carte here.
Highlighted Conference Sessions: (A full list of sessions can be found here.)
Financial Empowerment 101: From Asset Building Basics to Emerging Trends is lead by Ross Yednock, CEDAM’s Program Director for the Michigan Economic Impact Coalition. This session will begin with an overview of the basic concepts and policies of the asset building field and then highlight some of the new trends and best practices emerging in the field nationally.
Neeta Delaney, the Director of the Michigan Foreclosure Task Force, will take participants through a guided tour of the web-based Michigan Community Foreclosure Response Toolkit in her session Empowering Communities to Respond to Foreclosures: A Demonstration of the Michigan Community Foreclosure Response Toolkit.
Megan Kursik, Coordinator for the Michigan Communities for Financial Empowerment, will lead Show Me the Money! Financial Empowerment through Community Events. This session will describe Show Me the Money Day, an annual event in Michigan promoting financial capability through free financial workshops and resource fairs.
Olivia Courant, CEDAM’s New Media Associate, will be presenting The Community Development Industry’s Best Kept Secrets Caught on Camera on Monday from 3:30-5. Olivia is the producer of The Bright Side Television Show, which captures the amazing things communities and organizations are doing across Michigan.
Have you ever tried living your life without a car? Many people throughout the state face this challenge daily and we are going to give you the opportunity to spend a day (or one and a half hours) in their shoes. Brian McGrain, CEDAM’ Associate Director & Chief Operating Officer, along with MDOT’s Lina Chapman, will lead you through Transit Simulation: Navigating Life Without YOUR Car!
Do you have a website? The idea of creating (and maintaining) a website may seem daunting or out of your area of expertise, but this beginner-level workshop will teach you otherwise. If you attend the Hands-On Website Creation Workshop (Parts 1 and 2) with Katie Fritz, CEDAM’s Office and Systems Manager and Chris Fritz, Power On, LLC, you will leave with a live website and the knowledge to maintain it.
Megan Kursik, Coordinator for the Michigan Communities for Financial Empowerment, and Ross Yednock, Director for the Michigan Economic Impact Coalition, will also lead Michigan Financial Empowerment Movement: Round Table Discussion. This discussion will reflect on ideas generated in “People-Assets” sessions throughout the BMCC, discuss past achievements and developments in the asset building movement and strategize ways that practitioners, policy-makers, funders and other advocates can push forward a strong financial empowerment agenda in Michigan.
CEDAM is excited to partner and help produce the Building Michigan Communities Conference. If you ever have any ideas for what you would like to see as future sessions (or training opportunities), please don’t hesitate to let us know. Please call or stop by the office any time. Please note that our new address is 1118 S. Washington Ave. That’s right – CEDAM is moving just two blocks south of our current location on Friday, April 19. We’ll see you at the conference! Stop by and say hello.