Why a regional citizens league?

June 13, 2009 by Mike Gesing

OK…what does an organization called the Northeast Ohio Citizens League do? Why are we here and what’s it mean to you? And how to give the answers without writing a 10 page essay. Let’s give it a shot:

The last 150 years led to the development of the foundations of NEOhio as we know it – a dynamic innovator and resource of the industrial era. It was even referred to as the silicon-valley of its’ time. The land of steel, oil, great cultural institutions founded, excellent school systems – the best location in the nation as we used to call it.

But starting in the ‘60 & ‘70’s things started to slow down. By the late ‘80’s our per capita income started to lag the national average and it keeps going down. We now rank in the bottom fifth in terms of residents with at least a bachelors degree. Not a good thing when it’s intellectual capital that’s the building block of the knowledge economy – not the natural resources which formed the first iteration of northeast Ohio: NEOhio 1.0 we’ll call it.

So, this is our challenge: Building NEOhio 2.0 – a region (because regions are the competing entity in the global marketplace) planned, developed & designed to be a vital part of the knowledge economy. A region which offers it’s citizens & newcomer immigrants the resources and tools to reach their full potential. A region that works!

Who’s going to build the new infrastructures we need? The new ways of governing, the new ways of learning, a health care system we all can use, sustainable transportation, food and energy systems…the list goes on. I know who. You are & your neighbor and me and all the regions leaders, thinkers and citizen activists. All sectors are going to work together because you see there really isn’t any cookbook to follow.

We all need to educate ourselves “best practices”, to find out just what assets we already have to work with here in the region and then begin to research, discuss and collaborate on DOING something. Make the attempts, learn from our errors, revise and try again.

That’s what we’re all about at the Northeast Ohio Citizens League: bringing together the people, ideas and knowledge around specific regional issues – and then deciding just what we’re going to do to make transformational change.

A lot of us STILL think this is the “best location in the nation” and now we have to carry through on that sentiment to really make it a reality. Join us on that journey because we really can’t do it without you. This effort to build NEOhio 2.0 is really one of the people, by the people and for the people.

Send us YOUR vision of what NEOhio 2.0 should be, text or video welcome, and join us on the journey. You’re already part of it!

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