 |
| Friends of Flagstaff's Future Executive Director Becky Daggett. Photo © 2007 Debbie Leavitt. |
BS in Public Relations, NAU
Friends of Flagstaff's Future Executive Director
I was in the first class of the MLS program, beginning in 1997. I was attracted to the program because of the interdisciplinary focus on sustainable communities. I’m not a narrowly focused person and believe that to tackle the tough problems we face, we need to understand how our problems—and solutions—are interrelated.
As I finished my coursework and began the process of creating a final project, I began working for Friends of Flagstaff’s Future (F3), a local nonprofit focused on creating a stronger community and engaging citizens in decision-making. The knowledge I gained in the MLS program was a perfect jumping off point for my work in the community.
When I began with F3, we had 75 members and about $3,000 in the bank. Thankfully I had no idea how much work it would take to build the organization into what it is today: more than 1,100 members and an annual budget exceeding $100,000. I love a challenge and what a challenge it has been! If you’d like to find out more about F3, visit our website.
Thanks to the visionary guidance of MLS Director Sandra Lubarsky, I was able to weave my work with F3 into my work on my final project. I gathered a group of writers together, solicited the help of Flagstaff writer Mary Sojourner, and published the book, The Heart of Flagstaff. In it, writers described what they loved, mourned, and delighted in about Flagstaff. We held readings—including at the Flagstaff Book Festival—and sold a couple thousand copies of the book within a few months. My thanks to Sandra, as well as Max Oelschlaeger and Gary Nabhan for serving on my graduate committee and helping me to articulate the connection between storytelling and connection to place.