In the latest installment of Poly Platform’s Thursday Thoughts conversation series, CEO Kamel Greene sat down with local government expert Rex Facer. Their conversation centered on the importance of engagement with local government.
Rex is a professor at Brigham Young University, where he has taught public administration students, including Kamel, for about 20 years. Additionally, he has served on numerous governmental commissions at the local, state, and federal levels. He is currently a member of the independent redistricting commission for the state of Utah, which, as Rex put it, is charged with redrawing boundaries for congressional, state house, state senate, and school board districts “in a fair way that engages with the citizens of Utah so that they feel that they have a voice.” This notion of citizen engagement is one that Rex and Kamel often returned to throughout the course of their discussion.
One aspect of citizen engagement that Rex and Kamel discussed was engagement with local government. As Kamel pointed out, nearly everyone lives within some kind of local governmental structure, making interaction with local government a daily occurrence. Rex mentioned the importance of citizens reaching out to their cities about city events and volunteer opportunities because “if you reach out to [your] city, they’re often looking for people who want to help make a difference.” Cities can utilize Poly Platform to facilitate this engagement by posting events and volunteer opportunities within various areas of interest.
Often, there is a gap between the act of being engaged in one’s community and the feeling of making a difference. However, engagement—even at a seemingly small level—is the precursor to making a lasting difference. Rex shared the story of his wife, who began as a storyteller at her local library. Her volunteer service was initially focused on helping young children and their parents take advantage of the library in a more full way. As time passed, however, she was asked to join her city’s library board, helped give voice to a new local library, and is now looking for additional opportunities to engage in her community.
This story illustrates Rex’s point that, when it comes to engagement opportunities, “people often don’t know what they don’t know, and they don’t know ways that they can let their voice be heard, and that it can actually resonate and make a difference. ” Making a difference begins with engagement—doing something. From there, continued engagement with new opportunities makes a lasting difference—perhaps one that a person could not foresee when they first became engaged in their community. Poly Platform is committed to ensuring that those who want to make a difference can do so through meaningful engagement.
In speaking of societal engagement more broadly, Rex stated his view that “we often don’t see the people affected [by ongoing societal problems] as relevant to us.” His suggestion: “we need to start getting closer to people.” Drawing from the work of author, lawyer, and activist Bryan Stevenson, Rex framed the challenge to societal engagement this way:
It’s easy to not get proximate to people who are different, and if we don’t do that, then we will never hear their stories and we’ll never see their humanity. I think that is really part of the major challenge that we have is how do we see humanity, but more importantly, how does that humanity drive our behavior so we start showing that care and compassion for others. We may believe people have dignity and worth, but what are we doing to show that?
Though the answer to this challenging question is complex, facilitating community engagement is certainly a part of it. When asked by Rex about Poly Platform’s strong commitment to engagement, Kamel stated, “I think in order for us to resolve our differences, become proximal…we have to be engaged, and so that’s the mission, that’s the meaning behind the engagement that I like to touch on in regards to Poly.” Indeed, there is much good that can come as communities engage genuinely and with intention.
As we strive to become closer and take opportunities to volunteer and learn about those around us, we can make a difference. Rex summed this up well when he said “whatever context I’m in, I want to be trying to make a difference, whether that’s in a professional association, whether that’s as a faculty member, whether that’s as a person in my neighborhood, I hope that I’m able to add value.” He certainly lives this sentiment, and through Poly Platform, our hope is that many more will be able to as well.
