As the year winds down, we’re taking a moment to look back on everything that Consensus achieved in 2009. We are proud of what we accomplished this year and wanted to share our list with you.

• Added six sparkly new board members, including Amy Bradshaw, Jeff Breese, Vincent Hogan, Willow Lundgren, Mark Mattison and Jennifer Matney.
• Completed a project for our first federal client, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, on restoration of the Missouri River basin ecosystem. Evaluations and client feedback were extremely positive.
• Recruited citizens for a conversation with Ben Bernanke filmed for broadcast by NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. This was an historic event, the first ever citizen conversation with the sitting chair of the Federal Reserve Bank. Gwen Ifill and Jim Lehrer acknowledged Consensus on national television.
• Served as site liaison on the first AmericaSpeaks multi-site project held in metro KC. The project was for AFAA (Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism), and was one of sixteen sites around the U.S.
• Held two panel discussions, on journalism and democracy, and on neighborhoods and foreclosures, moderated by Nick Haines. The journalism forum was standing-room-only and broadcast on KCPT Public Television.
• Completed work for Washington County (Oregon) Cooperative Library Services. Our research and stakeholder engagement helped the coop decide how to be structured and governed in the future.
• Held deliberative forums for the Truman Presidential Library and the Johnson County Library on issues including the role of citizens in a democracy, training today’s children for tomorrow’s jobs, and making ends meet.
• Assisted with One KC Voice “Imagine KC” project, including holding a conversation in a box and facilitating a satellite site during the live broadcast. Our board president, Charles Renner, served as chairman of the One KC Voice Advisory Committee in 2009.
• Added Mary Jo Draper and Dan Blom to our core consulting team. The team (which also includes Jennifer Wilding, Consensus director) meets weekly to identify opportunities to engage the public in solving public policy issues.
• The consulting team developed a proposal for a project that will reduce friction between neighborhoods and developers so that the quality of development improves. Two funders have contributed, and many developers and neighborhood leaders have submitted letters of support. We will continue fundraising in 2010.
• The consulting team is also developing a class on how to engage the public tailored for people who are thinking of running for office. We’re currently interviewing and sending surveys to elected officials to find out what they would want candidates to know.
• Added new clients include Draper Communications, Truman Medical Center, and the Kansas City, Kansas, Community College.

In 2010, the board will devoted the first three monthly meetings to an orientation and to strategic planning. We anticipate another exceptional year of engaging the public in important issues.

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