On Thursday June 23rd, the second phase of the CRA Ladder of Capacity Building Initiative took place at UMSL at Grand Center. This phase of the initiative consisted of a “Speed Networking Event,” offering the opportunity for the participating community-based organizations and financial institutions to meet, get to know one another, and exchange ideas for potential new community projects.
During the event, each potential financial institution and community-based organization pairing had a limit of five minutes to meet and speak to one another. After five minutes, the pairings would switch, so that every combination received the opportunity to share and discuss ideas. This set-up created both a light-hearted and enjoyable atmosphere for those involved.
The end goal of the “Speed Networking Event” phase of the CRA Ladder of Capacity Building Initiative is to create viable matches between the community-based organizations and financial institutions to develop potential community projects. Now that this phase is completed, the pairings that were drawn to one another’s ideas will further communicate, and final matches will be confirmed.
The next and final phase will consist of a showcase of the proposals by the community organizations to a judging committee. Winning proposals will receive funding awards of up to $10,000. Throughout the process, Rising Stars will assist Rise and CBN in moving the initiative forward. The date of the showcase is Thursday, August 4, 2016.
