By Sarah Downing

Sarah Downing is CONNECT’s Assistant Director and a 2021 alumnus of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh

A lot of things may come to mind when you hear the word training. I think of 30-slide presentations. Rapid note taking and smudging the ink as I write, hoping I retain a fraction of the information for the quiz later. 

What didn’t come to my mind was piles of colorful post-it notes, improv exercises on a rooftop with a city view, or drawing stick figures with people I admire and have a lot to learn from. 

I had the opportunity to be a part of a two-day design methods training with CONNECT staff and a nominated group of CONNECTers. Each day was packed with brainstorming activities focused on the topic of municipal wellbeing. We chose the wellbeing of municipal officials and how to best support them as our topic for the sessions because we know that individual wellbeing leads to community wellbeing. CONNECT works with many amazing individuals and communities that have been impacted by the uncertainty of the past few years. 

Each training day began with a warm up activity designed for us to get to know each other and get ready for the day. We used our creative skills to draw pictures to show our personalities and priorities to introduce ourselves to the group. Rather than a flurry of note taking, we captured our ideas through post-it notes, drawings, and stakeholder maps. We conducted interviews with each other and colleagues during lunch breaks to gain insight on what wellbeing means to our network. 

As we explored ideas to promote wellbeing for municipal officials, our ideas centered around the theme of community. We are truly “stronger together,” to borrow a phrase we use a lot at CONNECT for good reason. Our group stressed the importance of learning from each other and getting together for retreats, site visits, conferences, and many other opportunities that we will continue to think through and explore. 

As a result of the training, CONNECT staff are hard at work planning convenings and events to support the wellbeing of our members. Stay tuned for opportunities to get involved!

Check out our LinkedIn and Facebook posts about the training.