Conference Of Churches Inc

21
Rev. Shelley D. Best, President & CEO

The Conference of Churches
224 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT 06105


Founded in 1900, the Conference of Churches is recognized as one of the oldest ecumenical organizations in the country. Since its inception, The Conference has been involved in such issues as school desegregation, anti-gambling advocacy, welfare reform, elder advocacy, and community engagement.

Reputation as a Neutral Convener.
For the Conference of Churches, engagement encompasses skills in event planning and execution, training, collaboration, and advocacy for long-term change to public will. Two examples are cases in point. Our partnership with the Universal Health Care Foundation led to a shift in public awareness and political will. In this collaboration we galvanized faith leaders in the cause to provide health care for all residents of Connecticut through the “Healthcare4every1” campaign.

In the last two years we designed and conducted seminars in universal health care advocacy to train some 60 faith-based organizations reaching over 25,000 individuals. One important outcome of this strategy was the passage of legislation to create an Office of Health Equity—a development that faith-based constituents advocated for because of their discoveries as participants in our trainings. In a second project, at the request of Governor M. Jodi Rell, the Conference of Churches convened the statewide Governor’s Summit on Youth Violence. The end result was creation of a budget that the Governor could advocate for public policy change, providing resources to reframe the conversation on youth violence from criminal offense language to the language of public health. Our role included gathering the diverse planning committee, who represented many disciplines in the field of youth development, health providers, the judicial system and law enforcement, grass roots activists, business, philanthropy, education, and government; creating the agenda for the day-long meeting which involved panel discussions and audience participation; hosting the diverse audience of some 200 leaders from communities across the state; measuring the impact of the effort through questionnaires; and reporting on findings of the event. Our path to these successful shifts in public will involved identifying public sentiment, finding common ground among diverse positions, and raising awareness through training and evidence. The outcomes support our belief that once people coalesce into a community of the committed they will work together across boundaries to achieve significant goals.

Capacity to Host or Convene the Effort.
The Conference of Churches has created and perfected a relationship-based model for building effective community collaborations and amplifying social capital. Our approach—which derives directly from our position as a faith-based company—allows us to dialogue with and stimulate action among people from disparate sectors. We speak the languages of faith and business, politics, education, healthcare, media, marketing, and technology. For example, our six-year-old health ministry network was instrumental in the passage of a legislative bill (Substitute Senate Bill No. 681) establishing an Office of Health Equity for the State of Connecticut. The Network has reached more than 10,000 individuals through our collaborations with foundations, government leaders, health care practitioners, faith communities, and public health professionals to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and improve access to health care. In addition to practical knowledge, staff members have earned certification in community organizing from the Industrial Alliance Foundation and the Gamaliel Foundation.

The Conference of Churches is noted for our creative use of technology to create coalitions and build databases. We have created significant lists of constituents whom we engage with surveys, electronic newsletters, and other outreach. For example, our expertise in reaching grass-roots and community-based organizations led to our selection as contractor for the Connecticut Department of Public Health to conduct a statewide study on agencies that work to reduce health disparities in Connecticut. Because of this project we compiled a significant human services database related to healthcare issues in Connecticut. In addition, we conducted research among 200 Muslim,Christian, and Jewish faith leaders in Hartford to quantify the value of volunteer work at $37 million for youth in the city. The Conference of Churches can also leverage our extensive database of political leaders, both state and national. Our databases are used for far more than outbound communication. These are relational tools that allow us to efficiently identify key stakeholders in business, education, law enforcement, philanthropy, neighborhood and faith-based organizations, government, and public health. These databases allow us to conduct ethnographic research among diverse communities, cross-check experts across boundaries, and assemble corps of interdisciplinary leaders from many sectors. Our knowledge of these sectors, based on data we store and use, allows us to perform the critical task of outreach, engagement and selection of cutting edge leaders who share our passion for equalizing health care.

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