Mark Fenton - Engineering physical activity back into American communities and lives

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Leadership or Strategic Planning Sessions

Ideally designed for targeted groups of community leaders, work site managers, group leaders, and/or key stakeholders, such a session can include a review of the current environmental and policy factors influencing the physical activity habits of residents or employees. This can be especially effective if I provide some recommendations for action to guide a facilitated discussion of specific steps a company, organization, or community might take to improve the health and well-being of its target population. (Such sessions must obviously be designed very specifically to the desires and interests of the participants, and are highly interactive.) They often begin with a PowerPoint presentation when appropriate, to outline environmental and policy level tools used to create more activity promoting settings, followed by a group assessment of local needs, and prioritization of specific target activities. I can go a step further and create a detailed action plan, to give clearer structure to the ideas if desired.
This can be most effective if presented in a focused time frame, perhaps including a meal and/or hosted by a high profile leader (mayor, CEO). For example:

Mayor's breakfast. Target key community leaders by direct invitation, and create a schedule (for example) from 7:30 to 9:30 am to minimize disruption of the work day.
Corporate Leader's luncheon. Ideal if the goal is to initiate innovative work site programs and engage top management, not just wellness or fitness staff.
Joint meeting of the Boards. Some communities hold a joint meeting of several of the relevant elected and appointed boards, such as City and/or County Council, Planning and Zoning commission(s), Board of Health, School Board, Conservation Commission, and others to provide technical instruction or to actually generate community-based discussion and priority setting across disciplines.