How did we arrive at the information presented to you in the preliminary findings report?
Through championing the input and insight available from the experts working on community development on the ground – including practitioners with decades of experience, people who are relatively new to the work, and community members engaged in their cities and towns (who may not consider themselves to be experts – but they absolutely are!).
Our process has included survey and analysis of 22 West Virginia communities, 5 community focus groups, 1-on-1 interviews with community development practitioners, a Community Development Think Tank with 75 participants from across West Virginia and into Kentucky, enlisting the support of research firms Downstream Strategies and Midwest Evaluation and Research, and other strategies.