Community Engagement at 360 Communities
An interview with Brian Gora, President, Goodrich Corporation and
360 Communities Board Vice-Chair
"It is important to Goodrich that we support organizations who we feel truly care about our employees and our neighbors. In my opinion, 360 Communities is at the top of that list."
-Brian Gora, President, Goodrich Corporation
A strong community is made up of individuals who are committed to one another and join forces to create ongoing successes. 360 Communities identifies trends that indicate the overall health and strength of a community and then focuses on areas of opportunity, empowering community members to participate in long-term solutions.
Brian Gora is impacting the strength of our communities through his leadership role on the
Burnsville Convening group and developing a vision for the future of our communities as
360 Communities’ Board Vice-Chair. Gora shared his views on community engagement.
 Why is caring for the health of our community important?
Gora We all live and/or work in the community and therefore are members of the community “family.” Just like any family, we should care about and work to improve the health of the family. Without a healthy community, we will all be ultimately impacted in a negative way.
We can’t leave it to others and hope things get done.
Why are you invested in the community engagement initiative?
Gora As a large employer in the community, we need a healthy environment for our business and our employees. We won’t be able to attract the talent we need if we don’t have a vibrant and healthy community environment around us.
How would you describe your partnership with 360 Communities?
Gora We (Goodrich) are part of the leadership team that co-initiated this effort and we will continue to serve in a leadership/oversight capacity as the initiative progresses.
Why should other people care about the community engagement initiative?
Gora This is important. At the end of the day, we can’t turn a blind eye to the issues in our community and hope they get better. In fact, the likelihood is that they will get worse. But, to really change and improve things, we need the entire community to get involved.
Hopefully, this initiative will accomplish that.
|
Above: Gora at Burnsville Community Conversation Forum, April 2010
|