The Powerful Role Of Community Ambassadors

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A recent Town Hall hosted by MP Maryam Monsef at the Evinrude Centre in Peterborough reinforced the vital role of civic engagement in community building, in politics and beyond.

For a significant portion of the Town Hall, those in attendance—about 100 were expected, but over 250 showed up—were broken into pods by the facilitator Jocasta Boone to meet other members of the community and share their ideas on what Peterborough and "community" means to them.

It became quickly apparent the event far transcended "politics". It was about ideas around city and community building.

A recurring theme in the pods—and they were full of buzz and chatter and debate—was how passionate people are about Peterborough, and how much this city has going for it, from its amenities to its organizations and institutions and businesses, to its giving people.

Of course, there were many areas of improvement suggested—more jobs, better social programs, more accountability, retention of our youth from leaving for bigger cities, etc.—but ideas were given for how to fix things, not just what's broken.

At its core, the engaged citizens there at the Town Hall—a wide demographic ranging from teens to millennials to adults to seniors—are community ambassadors. A local version, if you will, of global citizens. People who care passionately about their city, and believe we have something special here.

Beyond the Town Hall, the power of community ambassadors—those who talk up their city far and wide in positive ways—is not to be understated in building and uplifting community. It is seen every day in our community. It could be a teacher, a cafe owner, a social media influencer, a fireman, a police officer, a CEO, a city councillor, a university or college student, a nurse, a high school student, an entrepreneur, a hockey player, a senior, an artist, whoever.

The sense in the room at that Town Hall is that collectively—as a whole—we are are building something special in Peterborough. That the power of collaboration and giving and offering solutions—further fuelled and accelerated by the sharing on social media platforms—makes this a moment when the city is on the verge of greatness.
 

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