The Superbowl of Salem-Keizer Collaboration

Written by Tim Buckley, October 2024

It’s unfair to call it a Superbowl, because that connotes a winner take all competition.

CBEL calls these meetings a Collaborative to emphasize that it’s not about competition. We’re all striving to make the community healthier, and it takes collaboration to do it.

But for those who track local news and civic affairs, this next Collaborative gathering (11/7) has a Superbowl feel to it. Assembling to discuss how to “Build a Healthier, Wealthier, and more Resilient Salem and Keizer” is an interesting group of presenters. Given their life experience, these “grassroots and “grass top” leaders seldom assemble in the same room The group is primed to talk about what they know best, while being open to creating a different tomorrow based on what they hear from others.

Representing three of CBEL’s five Neighborhood Family Councils (NFC) are:

• Eduardo Angulo, Chair of the Hallman-Northgate NFC

• Maribel Hernandez, Chair of the Highland NFC

• Ron Berkley, Vice-Chair of the Kennedy NFC

Representing three of Salem and Keizer’s largest agencies are:

• Andrea Cantañeda, Superintendent, Salem-Keizer School District

• Trevor Womack, Chief, Salem Police Department

• Jessica Blakely, Director of Development and Strategy, Salem Housing Authority

This Collaborative offers these three grassroots leaders an opportunity to hear from those who direct public policy and funding towards our metropolitan area’s most crucial needs: safety, affordable housing and quality education. Across the table from them, a trio of leaders talk about a lived experience where safety, affordable housing and quality education are the among life’s most pressing challenges.

What happens in such a mix, where all participants approach the issue with an Outward Mindset, is the possibility of small shifts in one’s understanding that translate into a big difference in the streets, neighborhoods and schools.

Please consider attending, because you will have an opportunity to sit in a small group with other local grassroot and grass top leaders, to hear about things that will move you, and to speak about your own vision of a better life for us all.

In that regard, from whatever your life experiences, the Collaborative will strive to have us all leave feeling uplifted, with a sense of all being on the same team again. Only in that sense will it be a “winner take all” event.