What’s in a name?

Plenty for one foundation that is revolutionizing its approach to leadership in its community.

That’s why the Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County in central Wisconsin has a new name: Incourage Community Foundation.

“Our work has grown and adapted to changes in our community in the last decade,” said Kelly Ryan Lucas, president and CEO of the foundation. “We’re really a community development organization that uses philanthropy as a tool to foster civic engagement and community improvement.”

The change also reflects the foundation’s resolve to be more inclusive.

“What we heard from the community was that our name didn’t feel accessible and didn’t reflect the scope of our work,” Lucas said. “They told us the word ‘foundation’ felt primarily about wealth and money. Additionally, Greater South Wood County was ill defined.”

The economy – and the economic struggles south Wood County has faced since long before the recession – played a large role in the changing role of the foundation.

As well, the foundation’s work in integrating news and information as a core community need played a role in the change. The foundation, based in Wisconsin Rapids, is a two-time winner of the Knight Community Information Challenge.

As a Knight Community Information Challenge winner, the foundation has experimented with a number of projects designed to promote healthy flows of important information in the community.

One is Sameboat, an innovative project developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sameboat pushes community information about free or low-cost services and events out to places residents frequent.  Tested delivery vehicles include LED signs, print media and soon to be launched VOiPDrupal voice technology.  Another effort provides evening computer labs at local schools in towns without libraries. So far, about 250 residents have received computer skills training, Lucas said. The foundation also has embedded access to information and mapping information flow between institutions in its work with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions.

The foundation and MIT also conducted a series of focus groups to learn more about residents – how they receive and use information as well as their perceptions about the foundation. In all, the foundation conducted 11 focus groups with more than 100 residents as well as interviews with 20 institutional leaders.

“What really resonated from early research was ‘hope’. Hope for the future. If we don’t have hope we really don’t have the fortitude to continue on,” Lucas said. “We have so many dislocated workers retraining and adapting – there has to be hope.”

The name also is an effort to push against a risk-averse culture that is present in the community – “a propensity to vilify people who step out, take a risk and fail. As opposed to celebrating their willingness to try something,” she said.

Lucas believes the new name will also hold the foundation accountable.

“I think it requires courage, courage of conviction grounded in values,” she said, noting that Dan Pallotta of Advertising for Humanity told staff and board members: “You cannot name yourself ‘Incourage’ and any more be without it.”

The name change is “a little scary because, certainly we know the name, we know the research behind it, we know how good the marketing pieces look, and we’ve lived with it as its been developed.  The general public and our stakeholders don’t know incourage like we do – it’s our responsibility now to help them make it their own, to find individual and collective meaning for incourage,”

What’s next for Incourage Community Foundation?

It is launching a new cable access TV show, “Are you in?” – profiling people, stories of resilience and courage, as well as assets within the south wood county area.

The foundation is about to launch a broad, inclusive survey of up to 25,000 residents in order to ascertain their priorities for the community as well as obstacles they see to progress.  Using provocative language and many avenues for participation, the foundation seeks to increase resident engagement in and ownership of their community.  You may view the survey at incouragecf.org.

Results will be announced May 3 in a Community Forum – a shared vision and priorities will be affirmed at this event. At the same time, Incourage will launch “Courage Reports,” a new project with MIT. “Courage Reports,” an adaptation of MIT’s “Hero Reports”, and demonstrates technology being used successfully in Juarez, Mexico, to report and celebrate heroism and positive news.

By Michele McLellan, Knight Community Information Challenge Circuit Rider