Global Community Engagement Day
By Sharon Schweitzer
Every year on January 28th, Global Community Engagement Day seeks to encourage organizations, individuals, and businesses to better engage with their community.
Global Community Engagement Day aims to create awareness of individuals working collaboratively to address ideas and issues within the community, making this world a much better place for everyone! Community engagement helps to build and strengthen relationships. This includes relationships with local residents, faith-based groups, cultural groups, voluntary groups, and even virtual groups.
The story behind the inception and birth of Global Community Engagement Day is an interesting one. The Global Community Engagement Day was started by the organization Engage 2 Act. It is one of the fastest-growing networks of community engagement practitioners from Australia and across the world. According to their LinkedIn page, “Engage 2 Act is a collective of individuals committed to progressing high-quality community engagement practice.”
It started as a small group in Southern Australia. A former board member of the organization, Andrew Coulson, thought that if other silly things like doughnuts and socks have their special commemoration dates, that community engagement deserved a special day. So, he made the whole team hop on to this idea. In December 2017, the Engage 2 Act team members used their social media to start a poll. They asked their social media followers who was the most inspiring community engagement leader that they had met in their lives. Dr. Wendy Sarkissian was the top voted person in that poll, and they decided that her birthdate, January 28th, should be the Global Community Engagement Day.
For this year, Coulson announced that the theme for Global Community Engagement Day 2024 will be “Looking after our mental health in community engagement.”
Although it’s beneficial for all organizations and individuals to work towards greater community engagement, it’s particularly important for businesses. There are just certain advantages that a business can gain just by engaging with its local, national, or international community. All they have to do is to put in a little bit of effort. Below are some of the things that businesses can expect when they engage with the community in a more positive manner.
- Businesses involved in community engagement are more trusted by the community.
- Businesses also make better decisions surrounding local issues when they engage with the community.
- the community.
- Communities are more likely to accept recommendations from a business that has consistently engaged with it.
Photo by checkiday.com
Sharon Schweitzer JD, is a diversity and inclusion consultant, cross-cultural trainer, etiquette expert, and the founder of Access to Culture. In addition to her accreditation in intercultural management from the HOFSTEDE Centre, she is an attorney and mediator. Sharon served as a Chinese Ceremonial Dining Etiquette Specialist in the documentary series Confucius was a Foodie, on Nat Geo People. Her Amazon #1 Best Selling book in International Business, Access to Asia: Your Multicultural Business Guide, won a coveted Kirkus Star, and was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books. She’s a winner of numerous awards, including the British Airways International Trade Award at the Greater Austin Business Awards.
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