Speed Date Your Local Leaders: Citizenship Improved

7 citizens x 7 minutes x local leaders + pizza = a better hometown!

Maybe you’ve never tried it yourself, but everyone’s heard of speed dating. First offered by an Israeli rabbi to help Jewish singles find love, now there’s Christian speed dating, graduate student speed dating, even speed dating for pet adoption and – for the truly noncommittal – online speed dating.   But have you heard of civic speed dating? At a time when good civic conversations are either hostile or practically non-existent nationally, it’s probably past time for a little local “matchmaking” for the good of our hometown. It’s a format so cool and so unique that we were featured in USA Today when we launched it. And, it’s FREE!

Single or married, Speed Date Your Local Leaders gives citizens the unusual opportunity to, well, “Speed Date Your Local Leaders” – enjoying pizza and chatting informally with the people who lead in our community. (see participating leaders who have already confirmed, below – and check back for new confirmations). Here’s how it works: Leaders will rotate from table to table every 7 minutes, offering each group of participants an opportunity to ask questions or offer ideas that might never have rated a phone call or public testimony, but are the grist of good citizenship and good governance nonetheless.

Leaders scheduled to appear include, from the City of Tallahassee: Mayor Pro-Tem Curtis Richardson, Commissioner Jack Porter; from Leon County Government: Commissioner David O’Keefe, Commissioner Carolyn Cummings (Chair), Commissioner Rick Minor, Commissioner Brian Welch; Supervisor of Elections Leon County Mark Earley, Director of the Office of Economic Vitality Tallahassee/Leon County Keith Bowers, Community Foundation of North Florida President & CEO Katrina Rolle, Children’s Services Council Executive Director Cecka Rose Green, Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell, Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna, President of Connection First Dr. Jeremiah Murphy, Commission on the Status of Women and Girls (CSWG) Director Stephanie Shumate, Council on Culture & Arts (COCA) Executive Director Kathleen Spehar.

Thanks to our funders Community Foundation of North Florida through a grant from the Knight Foundation for making Speed Date possible.