Committee Radar: What Each RRCBA Committee Should Be Watching Right Now

Aug 24

2 min read

ONE SYSTEM. DIFFERENT LANES.

RRCBA’s committees should not operate as isolated groups. The same local development can affect education, economic opportunity, safety, health, culture and civic voice at the same time.

WHERE PARTICIPATION STANDS

The current public website provides a useful participation snapshot. These are group memberships and may overlap — one person can belong to more than one group — so they should not be read as unique-person totals.

RRD Community Connection — 31 memberships
Civic Engagement — 27
Financial Empowerment & Economic Opportunities — 12
Education — 10
Food Accessibility & Health — 8
Arts, Culture & Sports — 6
Communications — 5
Neighborhood Safety — 5

The numbers show two things at once: there is already a base to organize, and several committees still need stronger activation and leadership.

HOW RRCBA IS STRUCTURING THE NEXT PHASE

The core team is developing a Committee Lead + Core Team Liaison model. The Committee Lead would facilitate the committee, guide conversation and activity, work with members and advance priorities. The Core Team Liaison would keep the committee aligned with RRCBA, help remove barriers, bring needs back to the core team and provide organizational support.

Build the infrastructure first. Then recruit strong people into something that already works.

5,000 VOICES: FROM SIGNATURE TO ACTION

The 5,000 Voices campaign is also being redesigned so an affirmation is not the end of the process. The intended pathway is:

Voice → Priority → Committee → Connection → Action

Someone who identifies housing, education, food access, economic opportunity or civic issues should be connected to the people, information and work related to that priority instead of becoming another name on a static list.

ARTS, CULTURE & SPORTS

Watch Wichita’s $6.3 million-plus arts and cultural support, future grant recommendations, youth access, public-space programming and whether investment reaches historically underinvested communities.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

Watch housing decisions, street redesigns, public incentives, development agreements and opportunities for residents to participate before decisions become final. The Kansas City and San Antonio CBA examples belong directly in this lane.

COMMUNICATIONS

Turn complex public information into clear community intelligence. The Community Brief should become one of the committee’s recurring tools for explaining what is happening, why it matters and how residents can respond.

FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT & ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES

Track public contracts, apprenticeships, local hiring, affordable homeownership, business financing, supplier opportunities and whether large investments produce measurable community wealth-building pathways. The NCRC bank-CBA model belongs here too.

EDUCATION

Follow the $20 million Renew America’s Schools work at 30 USD 259 schools. RRCBA’s documented partnership with USD 259 helped secure the original $15.3 million federal award, creating a direct reason to follow facility outcomes, career exposure, workforce pathways and local-business participation.

FOOD ACCESSIBILITY & HEALTH

Follow Healthy Corner Store growth, participating-store success, healthy-food affordability, coupon redemption, community education and RRCBA’s ongoing Neighborhood Liaison work.

NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY

Follow the Douglas Avenue pilot and similar quality-of-life projects using actual before-and-after data. Safety includes street design, lighting, youth opportunity, public trust, physical conditions and community participation.