Studer Community Institute

Think Beyond creates dialogue

November 10, 2014
/ Reggie Dogan
/ training-development

How can we improve the quality of life for people in Pensacola? Think Beyond is having a community forum on Thursday to look for ways to find out. The event will be the group’s fourth and final quarterly meeting this year, with the purpose of providing an opportunity for discussion and dialogue on key issues that affect the lives of people in the Pensacola metro area. Representatives from the Studer Institute and Pensacola Young Professionals will lead discussions about issues that influence and affect education, government and the economy, and what needs to be done to build a more sustainable and successful community. “We want to have a community dialogue on how we move forward and where we go from here,” said Julie Sheppard, a Think Beyond board member. “We try to provide a friendly environment where people want to create change in a positive manner.” Think Beyond is a community group focused primarily on sustainability and innovation. The non-profit group was created in 2010 as a forum for people to meet and share ideas to build a better community. Think Beyond, referred to as a catalyst and connecter to build a better community, hosts meetings, forums and presentations that centers on events, community projects and technologies that connect people to create involvement and action. Sheppard said the Studer Institute and Pensacola Young Professionals were chosen as presenters this quarter because of the two reports released in August that spotlighted quality-of-life issues in Pensacola. PYP’s “Quality of Life 2014 Community Report” used Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, an independent polling firm, to ask Escambia County voters’ opinions on key issues. The top three concerns of respondents in the area were economy and jobs, crime and education. The Studer Institute’s 64-page "Pensacola Metro Report," produced by a consortium of educators, journalists and researchers, measured the health of the community by highlighting challenges and providing an analytical foundation for leadership and decision-making. Think Group selected the two organizations to lead discussions on their key findings and create dialogue to find solutions to improve people's lives in Pensacola and make the community a better place, Sheppard said. “We can’t afford to shelve things and not talk about them,” said Sheppard, legal counsel for the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. “We need to have discussions and talk about what we all can do." Too often, community forums and panel discussions become platforms for people to air grievances, which can stifle healthy debate and consensus building, said Sheppard. “This is not a session to gripe,” she said. “We hope to come up with creative, energizing ideas. If we don’t have the answers, we should look for other places for best practices.” Think Beyond community forum starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, at the Pensacola Museum of Art, 407 S. Jefferson St. It is free and open to the public.

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Think Beyond creates dialogue

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