In this episode of our local program Making Democracy Work, host Lisa Langley speaks with Allison Cash, executive director of Leaders for Ozarks Region Evolvement (LORE).
Full disclosure, Allison is also a longtime member and past president of the League of Women Voters, and I am so excited to have you this morning.
Cash: Thank you for having me. Excited to be here.
Let's get started. Leaders for Ozarks Region Evolvement is a relatively new nonprofit. Tell us what LORE is and why it was created.
Cash: It is a regionalism collaborative led by private sector CEO, mainly. Right now, we have 18 member organizations, and what it is setting out to do is create a few things. Number one, it's really a strategic plan for our region. A big part of that initially is the regional identity. So, a lot of us, maybe people who are new to the place or maybe from this place, refer to the region differently, so one of the things that we're working to do is help identify the region. The third thing is really around quality of life. The thing to remember is it is a nonprofit led by those, currently, 18 member organizations that will be growing over the boundaries of current jurisdictions is a good way to think about it. We're zooming out a little bit and tackling challenges that way.
As you know, the League of Women Voters believes democracy works best when citizens and communities work together across lines that divide us. How does LORE's cross community model connect to that idea of shared civic responsibility?
Cash: I think it beautifully connects. I kind of just got goosebumps when you said that because, as you referenced, I am a longtime league member, and I really do believe in the spirit of collaboration and clear communication within communities. And so, I think LORE is kind of emblematic of that in a way because it is saying everyone's doing a great job in their city, county, whatever those kind of black and white lines are. But there's also a greater opportunity to help steer the region if we work collectively and collaboratively. And so, I think to make the region work in the spirit of making democracy work, we need participation, and we need participation from across the board, whether that's a CEO level all the way down to just the resident driving to the gas station to fuel up their car.
One of your first major initiatives is a regional identity project. Why does it matter what we call ourselves, and what will the process of defining that identity look like? And I'm curious, when you say region, what exactly does that entail?
Cash: Yeah, we're working on that definition, too, because everyone defines it differently, so if you ask people, what is the region, draw a picture of that, the map looks different. So, we're not constricting ourselves to a certain number of counties, as an example, at this time. So, we're working through a 9-to-12-month identity project, and part of that will be kind of scoping the region, identifying that region. And why it's important, back to the first part of your question, is because, for us to work together and be pointing the same direction, it's actually really necessary for us to kind of identify together. And so, I like to liken it to a family. You probably have a family name, maybe one or two if you're a female and have taken another name. And how do you identify with that family? You're part of that family, but it doesn't mean that you share everything or have all the same traits. You can be very unique as individuals, take that to a city or county level, but you can also have a connection as a family name, or in this case as a regional identity. So, that way people say, hey, I'm from, insert, it could be Missouri Ozarks, it could be southwest Missouri, it could be the corner of the state. But it's important to have that. That way, when we start working on these collaborative initiatives moving forward, looking into the future, we're all kind of identifying as one choir singing the same song.
So, workforce attraction and retention is one of LORE’s key focus areas. How does bringing in and keeping talent connect to quality of life for all residents, not just businesses?
Cash: Yes, just a couple of quick things that aren't going to be a surprise in this area of workforce attraction, retention, housing and childcare are two big issues, and they are not specific to our region, but those are things that we have to zoom in at that point and say, what can we do within our region to enable that? Because frankly, it ties back to your latter part of the question about quality of life, because we all do the best when we have those basics taken care of and we're able to be gainfully employed or engaged because we have our children taken care of and we have a safe, affordable place to live. And so, one of the reasons that's a core priority of LORE is because we see an opportunity to bring parties together again, outside of maybe some of the black and white lines that we all have to operate in. That's how we get things done. But we can bring those groups together to help find solutions for those kinds of areas of concerns or areas of challenge.
And just wrapping it up, LORE has described its mission as writing the future for this region over the next two decades. As someone who's lived here most of your life, what does success look like, and how can ordinary citizens get involved or support that vision?
Cash: I think that that looks like people getting involved and engaged. So, when you see something about LORE, the Regional Identity Initiative, fill out the survey, let your voice be heard. I think it's really important to the region. One of the main impetuses is for me taking this role is because I believe we've had a very successful to date as a region history, and I think that we can continue to maintain that success and economic vitality moving forward.