Greetings everyone,
It’s a crazy time, not only for those of us involved in community development but for everyone. Things quite literally seem like they have been turned upside down. What was good is now bad and what was bad is now good. Everyone is trying to figure out how changes happening nationally will affect them and those they love. For those of us working in community development the challenges abound. How do we help community leaders figure out how to respond to the changes around them? How do they plan for an uncertain future? How do we support and learn from each other as we face these challenges with our partners, collaborators and the communities we serve? Where will the resources come from that support our work? These are not new questions but seem to carry more uncertainty with them than they have in recent years. CDS is a place where we can collectively sort through some of these challenges, explore potential opportunities, and provide support to each other as we try to make sense of this chaotic time.
There is a lot happening with CDS right now. The conference registration is open! It opened in early March. To register for this year’s CDS Conference visit this link: 2025 CDS Conference Registration Page. The early bird registration runs through May 12. Please make your plans to join us in Geneva, NY July 6-9, 2025.
Our annual board “call for nominations” opened last week and will remain open until April 25th. The open positions include Chair, Treasurer and two Board Director positions. All positions are two-year terms. Please consider nominating yourself or a deserving colleague. To fill out a nomination submission visit this link: Annual CDS Board Nomination Form. This year the student representative to the CDS board will be elected for the first time. There is a separate call for student nominations which is also open until April 25th. Any CDS member can nominate someone to be on the ballot for student representative to the CDS board. CDS student members will vote to elect the student representative. To nominate an active CDS student member please visit this link: CDS Student Representative Nomination Form.
CDS has an exciting webinar coming up on April 21st at 1pm ET). The theme of this webinar is community well-being and quality of life, specifically for rural Indiana. The webinar is in partnership with Community and Well-Being Learning Collaborative at Purdue University John Martinson Honors College, Purdue University’s Center for Rural Research, Education and Outreach (PCRREO); the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD); and the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS). To registration to attend the free webinar visit link: Upcoming Webinar: Community Well-being and Quality of Life: Focus on Indiana.
In service,
