Jillian Taylor - Bend Vision Project

Jillian Taylor is principal and business strategist of Jillian Taylor Consulting, and an affiliate with NXT Consulting. As a planning strategist and organizational development consultant, Jillian works with public and private leaders to gain clarity on their vision, mission and values. She also leads clients through a process to identify strategic priorities and guides them to implement complex initiatives. Jillian is known for helping groups navigate conflict and difficult topics to seek alignment with common priorities.

Jillian is passionate about community visioning and planning, and immediately upon moving to Central Oregon reached out to join the Bend 2030 (now Envision Bend) board.  She served as Board Chair and interim Executive Director before transitioning back to full-time consulting work.  She is now leading the Bend Vision Project with the NXT Consulting team. You can learn more about this at  bendvisionproject.org

This project will span 2022 into 2023 and seeks to engage as many community members in the greater Bend area as possible.  The results of this effort will include a community-drive Vision for the future of Bend, and a 5-year action plan.

Jillian has served on numerous local boards and committees, and her clients include City Club of Central Oregon, EDCO, Housing Works, Family Kitchen and Oregon Adaptive Sports.  

Transcript

Unknown Speaker  0:00  
I think it's a really exciting time for Bend. I mean, there's a lot of positive energy here, a lot of opportunity, there's some big barriers that we need to address sooner rather than later. Like the affordability of housing. Out of this project, though, one of the things we're listening for and hope to develop, or what we call Game Changer projects. And these are, you know, multi dimensional projects that would truly move the needle in our community in a positive way.

Narrator  0:45  
Welcome to cascade views a discussion with Central Oregon leaders. Your host is Michael SIPE, local business and community leader Best Selling Author of the Avada principle and candidate for Oregon State Representative for House District 53, which encompasses southern Redman sisters tremolo in northern bend. The purpose of these discussions is to share the views and insights of local leaders from a variety of community sectors on a range of timely and important regional and state issues. With that, now, here's your host, Michael SIPE.

Michael Sipe  1:19  
Thanks for joining us on Caskey views. This is Michael SIPE, and I'm excited to welcome my friend Gillian Taylor to the show today. Jill is principal and business strategist of Julian Taylor consulting, and an affiliate with NXT consulting. As a planning strategist and organizational development consultant Jillian works with public and private leaders to gain clarity on their vision, mission and values. She also leads clients through a process to identify strategic priorities, and guides them to implement complex initiatives. Jillian is known for helping groups navigate conflict and difficult topics to seek alignment with common priorities. During his passionate about community visioning and planning and immediately upon moving to bend reached out to join the bend 2030, which is now envision bend that board, she served as board chair and Interim Executive Director before transitioning back to full time consulting work. She is now leading the Ben vision project with the NXT consulting team. You can learn more about this at bend vision project.org than vision project.org. This project will spanned 2022 into 2023 and seeks to engage as many community members in the greater Bend area as possible. The results of this effort will include a community driven vision for the future a band and a five year action plan. Julian served on numerous local boards and committees and our clients include City Club of Central Oregon and CO Housing Works family kitchen, and Oregon adaptive sports one of my favorite nonprofits in the area. Julian's joining us today to talk a bit about the future, Ben. So it's my pleasure to welcome her to the show. Hi, Jillian.

Unknown Speaker  3:00  
Hi, Mike, thank you so much for inviting me to have this conversation.

Michael Sipe  3:04  
You bet. I've been looking forward to this, this is a big, big week for you and a lot of big things going on with with the vision project. And so I'm excited to hear what you have to share with us. So let's get started today with me asking you to tell us just a little bit more about your professional expertise. How did you become a planning strategist and organizational development consultant? And how exactly do you go about helping organizations?

Unknown Speaker  3:29  
Yeah, that's a good question. Send me back. You know, I've always had an interest in how people experience their work lives if they're happy or complaining. And how what is that convergence between systems and culture and people showing up. So, um, you know, back in the day, I thought about going more towards an MBA, I thought about going for a counseling degree. And ultimately, I landed on a Master of Science in organization development, which is really about the convergence of humans in the workplace, and how we interact. And my personal passion is that I fundamentally believe that people show up, and they want to do good work. And it's just noise and, you know, systems and policies and other things that sometimes get in the way of that. So that's been my sweet spot for quite a while.

Michael Sipe  4:28  
Well, in doing all that work, I'm sure that you're seeing that an organization can have great vision, which is we're going to talk about vision today but without strategy and proper implementation, that can also lead to discouragement and and maybe potential downfall real quick. So could you give us an example maybe of a time that you've had to navigate conflict and difficult topics to seek alignment with common priorities?

Unknown Speaker  4:52  
Sure, you know, turns out that humans we are sort of complex and messy and beautiful. And anytime we have a team of people, there's going to be some level of conflict. And so you know, what I come in doing is assuming positive intent for every person. And so when we talk about strategic planning, I never come in cold. It's not just a chess game, it's not about what are we going to invest in, and you know, what our org structure looks like, we have to start with building on shared values. And exploring what those are and having conversation conversations. And when you asked about conflict, what I can do is kind of manage that. So that people are respectful. They feel safe, they feel heard. And once we have that foundation of shared values, and then we, you know, we create a shared vision together, this strategic planning then starts to fall in place. And you mentioned this that, yeah, there's plenty of us that have been through strategic planning retreats or off sites, and then it never gets traction or goes anywhere. And so a big part of the work that I do is not just what what is our what are our strategic priorities? But how are we going to invest in people and resources in time to get our top most important priorities done in the next six months to a year? And what are the best practices and engaging, you know, the whoever it is that the employees, most of the time in actually doing this and generating excitement and momentum around it?

Michael Sipe  6:50  
Well, I've known you a long time, and you clearly have a passion and a desire to help others succeed. So let's switch gears just a little bit. Give us a bit of the backstory on Ben 2030. Why did you hop on board with this nonprofit? And kind of how's it transitioned over the years?

Unknown Speaker  7:07  
Yeah, good question. So I've talked a little bit about my professional background, and some early work experiences, I saw the disconnect, where you have a business and a team of leaders who are reactive, and they set things in motion, but they don't have that higher level vision for where they're headed. And if they do, they're not communicating it with each other or with employees. So fast forward, I've been doing this work with companies for decades. Meanwhile, my parents moved to central Oregon in 1991. And so I have been coming here multiple times a year, and I witnessed Ben going through a lot of changes, you know, and the good, bad and ugly that goes with that. When I learned back in 2005 2006, I was still living in Portland, but my family was here. And I have friends that live here. And I learned about Ben 2030. And this idea that a community was going through the same kind of process, that they were being thoughtful and intentional about what kind of community they wanted to create. I just thought that was so cool. And I never heard of another city doing that. And so when I ended up moving to bend in 2009, I think it was I signed right up, like how can I help? You know, Ben 2030. So I think, you know, men 2030, formed as a nonprofit, after the vision was adopted by city council, I think in 2007. And when I joined the board, it was 2014. Actually, what we were hearing from community leaders was a desire for the organization to take a step up and act more as leaders and get stuff done help to get stuff done. And so at that point, you know, the the organization shifted gears a little bit, and finding that right balance of taking action, versus you know, fostering other people to do what's right in the community was kind of a tricky line to walk. I think we did a lot of good things in that. But there were also some toes that got stepped on And so fast forward. Actually, in 2019, we really were focused on revisiting the vision, and so many people had moved here that had no idea or weren't involved in original vision effort. We created quite a bit of momentum. And then in March of 2020, we signed the contract we being the next consulting team that I'm part of now, to launch into this, and we all know what happened in March of 2020. Honestly, Mike, I wasn't sure we were ever going to come out of this and be able to do this work again. But we, we being the Envision band now board was been 2030, reached out to the community and started asking, you know, what is the right timing for us to come together and start having these conversations, there was interest in that the board decided to go through a rebranding process, which my colleague, Steven Eames, and I help them do, and to kind of get a fresh start, and a new look. And that's when envision band was born. And now, I have a really active engaged board and excellent executive director. And I get to be on the other side now, leading this project.

Michael Sipe  11:15  
What a cool story, and what a perfect time, you know, kind of on the rebound coming out of the last couple of years to be able to launch this just a really terrific opportunity. And with a whole lot of new people in the community, the opportunity to be able to gather them together seems to be very opportune. When when you look at what the big vision projects doing in terms of a five year action plan, what do you believe is the number one thing of importance?

Unknown Speaker  11:46  
Well, what I believe may be different than what the community believes. And so that's an important part of this process. Right now we are in deep listening mode, we are, we have a survey, I can talk about that, at the end how people can get engaged, we are gathering as much input, before we start to set priorities or say, you know, what's most important, however, it's probably not going to surprise you or any of your listeners, that there are definitely some things that are at the top of the list, affordability, the homeless, concern the economy, you know, workers being able to live here, transportation, traffic, the physical environment and the demand on our trail systems and other recreation that that we're fortunate to have here. So I am quite confident that those will be at the top of the list on the backside of this process.

Michael Sipe  12:55  
Well, acknowledging that it is a collaborative process. I am curious, like if you could wave a magic wand and say what you personally hoped would be the outcome from this initiative, not necessarily in terms of specifics, or it could be, but what do you personally hope to see coming out of The Big Vision project?

Unknown Speaker  13:15  
Yeah. This is very personal for me. And that, you know, we you and I have talked about the last couple years, we've seen national state and even within central Oregon, fracturing, uh, you know, along different political lines, different beliefs. And my fear is that if we don't have this conversation, those fractures will just get deeper. And so what I'm really motivated by and hopeful about, is that by driving this conversation by asking people, you know, what is most important to you? I imagine it like rising up above all of that, and shifting the dynamic in our community and shifting, you know, towards a more positive, constructive, intentional conversation. I believe we have shared values that we can build on, and whatever that ends up looking like in an action plan. For me, I think the conversation itself and I find this frankly, with my business clients as well. The dialogue, the conversation, people being heard, is as important if not more important than what comes out as a deliverable at the end.

Michael Sipe  14:44  
Sign me up for all that.

Unknown Speaker  14:47  
You and I hear from that same place?

Michael Sipe  14:50  
Oh, yeah. I love that. And I and I agree that the the activity just like the city club event that you chaired the a couple of weeks ago. You know, where that dialogue comes out the process of, of the dialogue, the process of the engagement and, and the conversation. And the relationships that get built out of that, regardless of the the exact outcome. There's great progress made, and it was that day, and I'm confident that you're going to do it this time as well. And you're the perfect person to lead it. I'm, I'm thrilled about it. So let's talk about growth a minute. Because, you know, I wander around Central Oregon a lot. And some people in Bender are really not super happy about the inevitable growth ahead of us. Not like we actually get to vote on that, you know, it's, it's coming. But do you see the expansion of Ben as positive or negative?

Unknown Speaker  15:49  
Well, Mike, I hear that a lot, too. Like you, I'm out in the community, talking with folks. And you know, that's a number one concern, we're all experiencing it or feeling it in some way. Personally, I believe that communities are always either growing, evolving, changing, or, you know, they're going the other way, and the cane or, you know, people are moving away, and there's empty storefronts and empty homes. So no community is static, we're either going to be doing one or the other. I think what's unique right now for us is the pace of growth and change, and our ability or desire, at least, to keep up with it. I'm so impressed with the people I meet around Central Oregon, and their level of engagement and commitment to solve these issues. And I'm talking folks that work in that offices at the city. And in all of our nonprofits. There are so many people that really want to help us grow in the best way possible. And there's going to be missteps and there's going to be things that you know, grow faster than we can keep up with. But we can either be reactive to that and or feel hopeless, or we can be take action and get together and collaborate and figure this out.

Michael Sipe  17:33  
Totally agree. He as we move toward wrapping up here, gosh, I can't believe how quickly this conversation is gone. I feel like I could talk with you for about six hours. But no one would listen, if we talk. as we as we move toward wrapping up here, what are a couple of key opportunities that you see for Ben over the next couple of years.

Unknown Speaker  17:52  
I think it's a really exciting time for bands. I mean, there's a lot of positive energy here, a lot of opportunity, there's some big barriers that we need to address sooner rather than later. Like the affordability of housing. Out of this project, though, one of the things we're listening for, and hope to develop are what we call Game Changer projects. And these are, you know, multi dimensional projects that would truly move the needle in our community in a positive way. I don't know if my idea for a game changer is going to make the final cut. But for example, you know, as I'm out talking to the Latino community, the bipoc community, you know, we talked about being a welcoming community, but it's really needs to be more of people feeling a sense of belonging here. And there is a difference I'm learning. We, you know, I know a lot of boards right now are looking at diversity, equity and inclusion. But I think it needs to start way earlier. And so for me a game changer project might be we're investing in children in stable Latino or colored community, in their access and skills, to be able to serve in the community to be connected to become decision makers. And I think over time, that can make a huge difference for us.

Michael Sipe  19:33  
I think that's a great idea, you know, the Latino community associations doing, doing good work in, in trying to, to solve some of those problems and, and there's much more that can be done one of the unsung heroes I think, in Central Oregon are the Latino owned businesses. That I mean they many of them, were hit hard by the pandemic and are and are coming out of it. But we're, you know, they were, you know, less prepared for it and resilient than, than others. And so now they're coming back out of it. And, you know, they're kind of the unsung heroes real quiet, just getting it done. And, you know, you got to respect that as a central Oregon core value, you know, that whole get her done. Thing, the Latino business community is just getting it done. And it'd be great to acknowledge that in some ways, because you're right, they, it's like if you go to a party, or you go to a church, and there's someone to greet you, and they say, welcome or like Walmart. Welcome to Walmart. Welcome to church, welcome to the party. And you know, then you come in, and then it's like, okay, yeah. Now what? And that now, what is I think what you're getting at?

Unknown Speaker  20:51  
Well, if I can throw this out there, you know, I've had some eye opening and heartbreaking conversations with folks in the Latino community. You know, we like to think we're nice, you're in band, and that we are welcoming, and in a lot of ways we are. But you know, once you scratch that surface, once you walk in the door, like you're describing, people don't feel that I had one gentleman say to me, I asked him, I said, you know, all those signs in people's window, like you are welcome here. Does that have meaning for you? And his response was, Well, it's a sign. It's nice. But I honestly feel like dogs are more welcome in our retail downtown stores and Latinos. And that just broke my heart. Wow. Yeah, yeah. So we have work to do. But we can do it, I have faith.

Michael Sipe  21:48  
Absolutely. You know, I think our community is a big hearted community, and some of this is, is going to be a rebound coming out of all the separation out of the pandemic, and in to a certain extent, going back to your point about getting together and collaborating, you know, we're gonna have to learn how to play together again. And we got a whole bunch of new playmates that have come in, of all different nationalities and backgrounds and cultures and perspectives and from different communities. And so, you know, not only do we have to learn how to play together, we have to learn how to play together with people that we never played with before. And they've never played with us. And they don't even always know, the things that we thought were the rules on the playground, which have already changed anyway. Right. It's very, very complex relational thing. You know,

Unknown Speaker  22:34  
you asked about people's concern about growth. And an example that I found is a lot of people have talked to me about that small town feel that they really value, and they're concerned that it's going to, it's fading away. But I'll tell you that I've experienced that, you know, tight community feel within neighborhoods of bigger cities. And I know that, you know, going back to your play your sandbox, maybe band was one, you know, medium sized sandbox. Now we need to have multiple sandboxes that people can come in and get to know their playmates and learn from each other. And, you know, it might look different, but we can retain the those values.

Michael Sipe  23:24  
This is going to be fun. And, and I could talk to you about this forever. But we really need to wrap up here. how can listeners get involved? How can they learn more about the Envision project? How can they get engaged?

Unknown Speaker  23:36  
Right? This you mentioned, this is a really big week for us. We've been doing different kinds of engagement and work earlier this year. But this week, we launched a public survey. Now, one thing I've learned is that everyone is doing surveys right about now. So the cool thing is our survey which you can find that then vision project.org. It's available in both English and Spanish. And there's going to be every couple of weeks a prize drawing and then vision board has got some really cool prizes like concert tickets, and just all kinds of recreation. The big prize at the end will actually be in their name, the winners name a gift to a nonprofit of their choice in a substantial amount. So that's my pitch for taking this survey. We are doing everything we can to reach broader, deeper, wider into the greater Bend area. Every person deserves to have a voice in this and so I would just encourage anyone that's listening to not just take the survey yourself, but have your family do it. You know the uncle that you argue with over the table have him do it. Have you know other people that you interact with in businesses, we need to hear from everyone.

Michael Sipe  25:07  
Jillian, it's been great having you on the show. I'm so appreciative of the work that you have done over the years that you continue to do. And I'm excited to see where this project goes in service to our community. I really think my main takeaway is out of our discussion today is this whole idea about about a community engaging together. And maybe we just, we just suspend the goal thing for a while, and just sort of talk and see what evolves. And so I think that's just really a great insight that you brought to this, that there really is value inherently, and particularly with all of the changes over the last couple of years and new people in town and new issues and all that there really is value just in building good relationship, and allowing that to unfold as we tackle the real challenges that that we face. So I really appreciate that. Take away from our time and, and really appreciate your time and your message today overall.

Unknown Speaker  26:15  
Oh, thank you, Mike. It's been a pleasure. We won't do it again.

Michael Sipe  26:19  
I hope so. Yeah, this is fun. My guest for the show today has been Julian Taylor, leader of the Ben vision project. You can learn more about the organization and its work at bend vision project.org So go there and and do the survey and figure out how to get engaged with this really worthy project again, Ben vision Project dot works

Narrator  26:39  
for listening to views with Michael SIPE. To find out more about Mike the upcoming election the key issues he's focused on in his campaign to represent Central Oregon and Salem as a state representative. Visit www dot a voice for Central oregon.com that's www dot voice for Central oregon.com You can get your own copy of Michael sites best selling book the Avada principle@amazon.com. And finally, please vote in the upcoming election. Your Voice Matters