I don’t know about you, but I am seeing something I never imagined in Green County. People unwilling to speak to each other, or even work with each other, because of their beliefs.

I’ve heard from a concerned business leader, unwilling to attend a local nonprofit board meeting, for fear of being seen as “offensive” due to his views on Covid vaccinations. I’ve read about a well-respected local elected official, careful with his viewpoints on immigration that aren’t popular in Green County.

I’m hearing about work teams crumbling in our local businesses because people don’t want to work with others who don’t hold the same views. The same is happening in our civic organizations. Good Green County people won’t serve pie, beer or cheese curds next to someone with whom they disagree.

Can we talk? I’d offer that to have a vibrant community, we need to be able to have civil conversations, not to change people’s minds, but to ensure the well-being of our organizations. If you can’t work or volunteer with someone because of their views on vaccinations or their political preferences, we are all diminished.

That’s why we have big plans for Green County Leaders this year. We want to change things. And this isn’t about just putting on some classes so people feel better about having gone to the classes.

Green County Leaders: Civil Leadership for Vibrant Communities is targeted at people who want to work together across differences and learn proven strategies for communicating and working productively with people who see the world differently. The premise is not that everyone needs to agree, but simply that we need to be able to talk and listen to one another, skills we are rapidly losing.

Green County Leaders has teamed up with Braver Angels to provide an engaging way to learn and lean into civil leadership to build vibrant communities by honing civil leadership skills. Braver Angels was created to bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our communities.

Leaders who lead and foster civil conversations and welcome diverse perspectives make better decisions. That’s particularly important now, when communities, non-profits, and businesses are making decisions in a historically unique time of transition.

All of the classes will be virtual, partial days, and held from September through May. Dates and times vary, but please go to the Extension Green County website under the Community Development Green County Leaders tab for more information and to register. The cost for these Green County Leaders classes is $150 per person. Scholarships are available.

Questions? Contact Victoria Solomon, Community Development Educator with Extension Green County at victoria.solomon@wisc.edu or (608) 328-9440 or Cara Carper at GCDC at cara.gcdc@tds.net or (608) 328-9452.

— Cara Carper is executive director at Green County Development Corporation. She can be reached at cara.gcdc@tds.net.