CityClub is hiring for the position of Development and Marketing Manager! In the PDF attached you'll find the job description, as well as how to apply.

Haven't you always dreamed of being a member of Team CityClub? Send in your resume today!

National Cover the Uninsured Week is "a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and demand solutions from our nation's leaders." The website provides reports and statistics for each state; click here to view Washington's. A few highlights include the following percentages: 87.2% of the population has health insurance; 53.8% of employers in Washington state offer health insurance to employees, and 87.5% of population that could get medical care when needed.

On Monday, March 15, our panelists will climb onto the Town Hall stage representing a handful of great organizations in Washington State to talk about local health care innovations in the face of our current challenges, and we wanted to share a little bit about what they do. (All text is taken from the organization's website, which is linked.)

Community Health Network of Washington -- CHNW works - through public policy and advocacy, and a health insurance plan, to overcome barriers that hinder individuals’ and families’ access to health care, including geographic location, insurance status, and income.

Washington Health Foundation -- WHF's vision is to make Washington state the healthiest state in the nation - all the work of WHF is geared toward improving the measures which determine our state's health ranking, and in engaging leaders, policymakers, businesses and the public in creating big social change on this issue of health.

Washington State Department of Social and Health Services -- Each year, more than 2.1 million children, families, vulnerable adults and seniors come to DSHS for protection, comfort, food assistance, financial aid, medical care and other services.

WithinReach -- WithinReach is committed to ensuring optimal health for all families through information and referral services, nutrition outreach programs, statewide coalitions; and public health materials.

As the Library puts it, "These 'open houses' at five libraries are designed to have participants 'think big' and use their creativity in considering new models, services and potentially new roles for the Library."

From Diane's description, there's no big presentation and no large facilitated conversation. Instead, there are large post-it pads placed around the room, and attendees are given smaller post-its or stickers to place on ideas of their choice. This is a really great, "non-confrontational" way to get ideas - nobody has to stand up to a microphone and speak to the whole audience, they can just express their approval, or disapproval, through a sticky note on a notepad.

Although there are no more scheduled for the Central Library, you can attend a Citywide Conversation at the following branches:

Many thanks go out to Seattle Channel for turning around this video so quickly! They've got a set of air dates for when yesterday's program "Addressing Education Reform and Funding in 2010" will be on television for your viewing pleasure:


So mark your calendars!

Meanwhile, online video is forthcoming soon, and when we have that link, we'll tweet it - so if you're not following us on Twitter, now's a great time to start!

Last Friday, CityClub closed down the office and held a day long board and staff retreat. As a framework for our discussion, we purchased several copies of Jim Collins' Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great.

Jim Collins describes something he calls the Hedgehog Concept. Briefly, Collins describes the concept on his website: "The essence of a Hedgehog Concept is to attain piercing clarity about how to produce the best long-term results, and then exercising the relentless discipline to say, "No thank you" to opportunities that fail the hedgehog test. When we examined the Hedgehog Concepts of the good-to-great companies, we found they reflected deep understanding of three intersecting circles: 1) what you are deeply passionate about, 2) what you can be the best in the world at, and 3) what best drives your economic engine."

With these three things in mind, the board and staff of CityClub carried forth into discussion about what we want to do in the future, and how it fits with the Hedgehog Concept. As you can see, we broke up the hard thinking with a little fun: wind-up hedgehogs that spin and do backflips! (We were surprised at how difficult it was to obtain toy hedgehogs! Even the worldly toy folk at Archie McPhee had to ask us to repeat ourselves when we asked after something along this line.)

What do you think about the Hedgehog Concept? Can you see it being useful in your own life and work?

Nominations for 2010 Jefferson Awards closed on Monday, but the awards ceremony isn't until April - so you may be wondering what happens between now and then. First things first: judging has already begun! Our panel of judges will choose our five Washington winners, who will be honored at the breakfast awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 27.

However, we'll still need to choose one person, of those five, to send to Washington DC as our National Nominee from Washington State. To do that, we're going to ask for your help. During the week of April 5, the five Washington winners will be featured on King 5's Evening Magazine. Once you've heard everyone's stories, you'll be encouraged to vote for your choice online. The person who is chosen as National Nominee will be announced at the breakfast on April 27 (save the date!).

Our fantastic panel of community leaders who will be taking part in the judging process is as follows: Shannon Boldizsar, Government&Civic Affairs Manager, Global Policy&Advocacy, Starbucks Coffee Company; Mark F. Dederer, Vice President, Director Safeco Insurance Foundation, Manager, Safeco Insurance Community Relations; Eric A. Riddle, Segment Producer, KING-TV Evening Magazine; Jane Broom, Community Affairs Director, Microsoft; and Lora Lee, Vice President, The Fearey Group and Chair, CityClub Program Committee.

And if, after hearing all of their stories on Evening Magazine, you are feeling a refreshing wave of inspiration to get involved in your community, here are a few organizations that offer opportunities for community involvement:

• United Way of Washington (with links to county United Way affiliates)
• HandsOn Network
• Volunteer Washington

Heads up, Seattle!

United Way of King County will be launching their Lunch and Learn series on Thursday, February 18! This is a series of four free events over the next four months covering a variety of issues - we've got the topics for all four events on our co-presented events page. Did I mention it's free? Just bring your own lunch!


The first program is entitled "Can you Spare Any Change? Responsible Ways to Help people Experiencing Homelessness". Here's a brief description:

Lunch and Learn sessions take place United Way of King County's downtown Seattle building at 720 Second Avenue - click here to sign up.