Wednesday, October 4 – 9:00 – 10:30 am

Leila Brammer, Director of Outreach and Instructional Development of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse, University of Chicago

Civic leadership requires developing and utilizing both individual and collective communication capacities. From responding to constituent concerns, facilitating decisions, mediating conflicts, and promoting community interests, a variety of daily situations demand nuanced abilities to respond well. Effective communication wields the powerful potential to transform old and new conflicts, support decision making, and enhance the communities we live in. Civic leaders who are equipped with effective communication practices can manifest, model, and build capacities for bridging differences and working together to understand and address pressing challenges. This presentation provides approaches, practices, and language to cultivate and advance productive communication within communities.

About the Presenter:

Leila Brammer is the Director of Outreach and Instructional Development of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse at the University of Chicago. Rooted in the Chicago Principles of Freedom of Expression, the Parrhesia Program curricula, programming, and outreach seek to foster the capacity for vigorous, inclusive, and productive discourse in classrooms, campuses, and civic life. Leila developed a civic engagement curriculum and a public deliberation and dialogue program that received multiple national recognitions. In her work in public deliberation and dialogue, she builds and facilitates frameworks in which community members come to understand problems from multiple perspectives and work together to develop evidence-based approaches to address challenging civic issues.

Thursday, October 5 – 9:00 – 10:15 am

Ron Holifield, Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Government Resources and former City Manager

There is a profound sense of pain that has settled into the day-to-day work that local government leaders are facing. It's isolating. It's demoralizing. But the work being done is necessary and important. How are leaders supposed to rise to both the "usual" and the extraordinary challenges facing local governments today? By remembering: it's not about me, and it's not about now.

About the Presenter:

Ron Holifield served almost two decades in City Management, including Assistant City Manager in Plano, Texas, as well as City Manager in Garland, DeSoto, Farmersville and Sundown, and on the City Manager’s staff in Lubbock. In 1996, he left city management and purchased Government Relations Specialists, where he provided strategic marketing consultation for many of the leading corporations in America, including Space Imaging, American Express, IBM, Xerox and over 50 other Fortune 500 companies, as well as NASA. In 1999, Ron sold that company and founded Strategic Government Resources to specialize in Recruiting, Assessing and Developing Innovative, Collaborative, Authentic Leaders for local governments nationwide. Today, Ron speaks at over 50 state and national conferences and workshops each year and remains high profile in the city management profession. SGR is the third largest local government executive search firm in the nation, operates the second largest local government job board in the nation, and provides live and online leadership development to more local government executives and midlevel managers than any other company in the nation. Ron holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Abilene Christian University and a Master of Public Administration from Texas Tech University.

Thursday, October 5 – 12:00 – 1:15 pm

Yellow Light Breen, President & CEO, Maine Development Foundation

Maine Development Foundation CEO Yellow Light Breen – who has led transformative initiatives in state government, in the private sector, and as nonprofit partner – will speak on the changing nature of Maine’s economy, demographics, and opportunities.  Communities play a critical role in nurturing innovation, sustainability, and a viable workforce. Innovative approaches to heritage industries, to community development, and to civic leadership are essential and possible to seize the future we want for the people of Maine and for each of our communities.

About the Presenter:

Yellow’s passion is promoting economic and educational opportunity for all Mainers regardless of geography or background. He became CEO of the Maine Development Foundation in August 2015, where he develops strategic direction, integration, and partnerships across MDF’s mission and programs. The Maine Development Foundation (MDF) is a legislatively-created, non-partisan public-private partnership that drives sustainable, long-term economic growth for Maine. MDF does this through trusted research, leadership, and creative cross-sector partnerships. Yellow has a diverse background in business, public policy, and law. He spent twelve years as an executive with Bangor Savings Bank, overseeing strategic planning, marketing, online banking, community development, and charitable activities. Prior, he was a senior official at the Maine Department of Education and an advisor to Independent Governor Angus King. Yellow was born and raised in rural, central Maine, a product of Maine public schools, and earned undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University. He has been an active volunteer in many education and economic development efforts, including the boards of the Maine Community Foundation and Educate Maine. He previously chaired Realize Maine, an ongoing initiative to attract, retain, and support young professionals. Yellow lives in Holden and loves to hike, swim, and ski with his wife and now-grown children.