Community Voices Series

The Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought and the Institute for Policy and Governance will convene a Community Voices Series aimed at bringing leaders of community based organizations from across our region to Virginia Tech for an ongoing conversation with an interdisciplinary group of faculty and doctoral students. These dialogues are designed to provide a deeper and broader understanding of the social, political, cultural and economic forces that are impacting communities in Virginia and beyond.

April 22, 2009- Andy Morikawa, Community Foundation of the New River Valley

The second guest in the series is Andy Morikawa, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. As a public, not for profit grant maker, the CFNRV serves a rural area in Virginia’s Appalachian region. The Foundation and its donors work together to create strategic grants that improve the quality of life in the community. Andy Morikawa has a long term interest and commitment to developing community based initiatives that span divisions of race and class. He is a founding member of several community based initiatives in the area he serves: the Community Group, the New Mountain Climbers Giving Circle, the Floyd Village Green, the Free Clinic of the New River Valley and the SHARE program. Currently Andy serves on the VT-ENGAGE Steering Committee, is a board member for the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library System, the Ethics Committee for the Council on Foundations, advisor to CFLeads, and a member of the organizing groups for Global Dialogue for Responsibility and Citizen Networking of the New River Valley.

For more information see flyer.

September 30, 2008- Karl Stauber, Danville Regional Foundation

VTIPG and ASPECT brought Karl Stauber, president and CEO of the Danville Regional Foundation, to campus as the first guest lecturer in the series. DRF serves as an agent of transformation in the areas of Caswell County, North Carolina, Pittsylvania County and Danville in Virginia. The foundation invests in long term efforts that provide sustained positive impact for the region’s people. DRF is committed to developing, promoting, and supporting programs and organizations that address the health education and well being of the region’s residents. Karl Stauber previously served for eleven years as president of the Northwest Area Foundation, an organization which focuses on helping communities to reduce poverty. Stauber gave a lecture entitled "Community Transformation--Do land grant universities still have a role?” followed by a roundtable discussion to consider strategies and research and address the specific needs of the communities he serves.