From COVID-19 and a recession, to a national reckoning on race and an approaching election, area officials are grappling with how to best manage and respond to the many challenging events of 2020.
As regional leaders plan for 2021, University of North Carolina Professor Jim Johnson says one thing is very clear: “Certain uncertainty” will be the “new normal.”
Johnson is a leading expert on the impact of disruptive events and changing demographics on the economy and society, and he is facilitating a direction-setting town hall series for local government leaders hosted by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) and the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), "Leaning In to 2021: More Equitable, More Resilient." Johnson is joined by colleague Jeanne Milliken Bonds, a UNC professor and former elected official.
Through data, polls, breakout sessions, remarks from special guests, and discussion, town hall attendees will strategize over the next few months about leading through times of “turbulence,” and emerging as a stronger region.
The First Town Hall - 'Out of Crisis, Into Crisis'
At the first town hall of the series on September 18, Johnson presented the group with many of the demographics interrupting the status quo nationwide, including in metropolitan Washington.
“Our shifting demography is the foundation for, and the base, for any strategy we might develop,” said Johnson.
For example, he spoke about the shift in the composition of the nation’s population, what he called the “browning” and “graying” of America, or growth of the immigration-based population and changes in longevity of the population, declining fertility, and aging baby boomers.
Source: Prof. Jim Johnson, University of North Carolina
Johnson acknowledged that transitions like these, embracing immigrants, and championing diversity will be key to creating communities where everyone can thrive in the future.
Join the Conversation
The next session in the series, “Leading and Managing in ‘Certain Uncertainties’” on October 16, will take a closer look at the skill sets needed to effectively lead through disruptive demographic changes and events.
By the end of the series, attendees will walk away with tools for boosting community health, prosperity, and resiliency, strategies to combat segregation, poverty, and barriers to economic participation, and ideas for propelling these plans forward.
It’s not too late to participate in the next events of the series. Local government leaders and their staff can register at mwcog.org/LeaningInto2021.
MORE: Town Hall #1 Full Video Recording