Leadership Forum

The Georgia Humanities Council convenes leadership forums inviting leaders from varying sectors to come together to consider civic life, civic leadership and the future of our communities. These forums allow the Council to further direct its work and also further the Council's mission to build community, character, and citizenship in Georgia through humanities education.

For five years we convened annual forums for this purpose. They were great successes, leaving the Council to consider how to improve on its model.

In lieu of forums for 2005 and 2006, the Council is extending its day-long conversations into a series of conversations called Thoughtful Giving, a national project developed by the Maine Humanities Council, funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Thoughtful Giving in Georgia brings members of Georgia's Community Foundations together to think about "the perfect gift", to explore their own thoughts about giving and to examine the written perspectives of others to extend, clarify or bring forth additional questions regarding their own philanthropic understanding and vision.

Based on research showing that civic groups and others engaged in shared public service can benefit from coming together to reflect on the nature of their common work, this Georgia initiative is conducted in partnership with the Southeastern Council of Foundations.

The 2005- 2006 Georgia pilot sites are the North Georgia Community Foundation in Gainesville, the Community Foundation of Central Georgia in Macon, and Westminster Academy and The Atlanta Girls School in Atlanta. Members and donors from the foundations and students of philanthropy at the institutions are meeting in small groups in for a series of facilitated discussions on what they consider to be "the perfect gift." Readings ranging from Gwendolyn Brooks poems to portions of Jewish religious text will be used to catalyze discussion.

For more information on Thoughtful Giving contact Jamila S. Owens at jrsmith@georgiahumanities.org.

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