AWOP Announces Cincinnati as a Prototype for City Transformation at Global XL Summit

CINCINNATI, July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- More than 400 Christian leaders from around the world attended the milestone 2021 XL Summit, an annual conference hosted by At Work On Purpose (AWOP), on July 9th.

For the first time, the XL Summit was held in-person at Grace Chapel in Mason, Ohio and live streamed globally. This year's summit—the first XL Summit that was a full-day experience—featured more than 25 inspiring practitioners, visionary speakers and panelists.

Bringing together diverse attendees including executives, pioneers in the faith at work movement, and emerging leaders, the conference included the announcement of several strategic partnerships for AWOP with national and international ministries.

"AWOP is 'straddled' between two current movements: the faith at work movement—which primarily consists of workplace ministries, especially from the private sector—and the city transformation movement—which primarily consists of local churches and parachurches," said Chuck Proudfit, AWOP Founder and President. Using the analogy of a railroad, he continued: "Part of our objective with AWOP is to create ties that bind these two movements together so that the 'transformation train' can ride forward much more easily." Panelists representing many of the emerging AWOP partnerships were able to share details of their initiatives, bringing to life examples of how Cincinnati is serving as a prototype for city transformation. Those panelists and partners included:

• Kevin Mitchell of Transform Our World, who shared how the 2019 pilot experience held in Cincinnati (called the Ekklesia Excelerator) has graduated more than 2,000 people from 32 countries to date. In continuing to partner with Transform Our World, AWOP will equip every day working Christians to become transformational agents in their workplaces, ultimately helping them steward their companies and industries.
• Chris Robertson, Director of City Networks at Made to Flourish, who described Made to Flourish's partnership with AWOP to create the nation's first community of practice across the Cincinnati/Dayton region. This partnership will build out faith-based entrepreneurship initiatives in and through the local church.
• Bob Seymore of Global Leadership Summit (GLS) who shared how AWOP is sponsoring five city-wide host locations for the upcoming GLS. Proceeds from ticket sales will be strategically routed into transformation projects across Cincinnati. After the event, GLS attendees will then be invited to city transformation initiates throughout Cincinnati.
• Lisa Mathews, National City Catalyst, Movement.org, who explained how AWOP and Movement.org are designing a citywide dashboard that measures quality of life. This city dashboard‚ first developed for Cincinnati as a prototype, will be shared elsewhere, enabling every city to create customized neighborhood interventions. Additionally, Mathews, Movement.org, and AWOP are leveraging findings from Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, specifically its research on what makes a flourishing life.
• Caleb Ingram, Executive Director of Declare, who shared how the emerging Cincinnati-Dayton corridor is not just of economic significance, but it is also a story of growth for its emerging spiritual infrastructure. The discussion highlighted a shift that has taken place from individual ministry initiatives to an approach with collective thinking and highly collaborative and coordinated initiatives, according to Proudfit. "Two plus two can equal five in God's mathematics, and that's where we're headed with the Cincinnati-Dayton corridor," he added.

With an aim to complement current city transformation efforts that are underway, Proudfit shared the four components of AWOP's transformation focus:

• A city dashboard that could measure quality of life progress over time;
• Church mobilization which would leverage technology to connect ministry services with those in need;
• Geographic customization to fit the specific needs of individuals across Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods;
• Prototype reapplication so that other cities could learn from Cincinnati's progress as a prototype city.

"With this framework, anything that we can build in Cincinnati, could be a blessing to cities elsewhere," he explained.

Transformation Trailblazer Award for City Transformation

The summit included the inaugural Transformation Trailblazer Award, presented to Lloyd Turner through his widow, Joanne Turner. The award recognized Turner as an accomplished workplace leader who had a deep passion for exploring the spiritual history of cities, including Newark, New Jersey and Cincinnati.

After recognizing Turner's efforts in supporting city transformation, Michael Heckmann, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Mount St. Joseph University—who had been commissioned under Turner's tutelage—shared a presentation on understanding Cincinnati through a spiritual lens.

Additionally, Dana Cochran, a leader with Networks Embracing Transformation, shared how she has been working to better understand Cincinnati through the voices of its citizens. Cochran—who shared her early findings—is in the process of interviewing hundreds of leaders across the city to ensure their voices are heard as city transformation efforts are designed.

Courageous Love at Work

In another session, Chuck Futel, Regional Vice President, Primerica, joined Darice "Michelle" Thompson, President, Designed For Destiny and Proudfit for a discussion on Courageous Love at Work, a place for leaders to listen, learn, and love in order to support challenging conversations about race, racial injustices, and racial reconciliation.

During this example of a courageous conversation, Futel, Thompson, and Proudfit shared the importance of being an advocate and champion of African Americans in the workplace. "Truth be told, we're all in this together," said Futel. "There are some things that I cannot do. There are opportunities that are not open to me. And the only way it happens is when we have our white brothers walk hand in hand with us," shared Futel.

City Transformation through Racial Reconciliation & Economic Empowerment

Proudfit and Thompson also facilitated a panel discussion with a group representing City Servants, a network of pastors focused on racial reconciliation and economic empowerment strategies in the community. The panel included: Chris Beard, Lead Pastor of the Peoples Church and Co-chair of City Servants; Jerry Culbreth, Pastor at Tryed Stone New Beginning Church (TSNBC) and Co-chair of City Servants; Gene Ellington, Pastor, Consolation Baptist Church and Board Member/CEO of Community Economic Advancement Initiative (CEAI); and Paul Booth, Lead Pastor, Legacy Pointe Church and President of Collective Empowerment Group (CEG).

The group discussed collaborative initiatives they are spearheading with a "Kingdom mindset" to reduce disparity in our city, address long-standing inequities rooted in systemic societal issues, and to support economic empowerment and wealth building opportunities for African Americans. The discussion underscored how important relationships were when it comes to driving deep change in communities: "The only way we're going to get this done is together, in unity," said Culbreth. "But you can't be in unity with people you don't know. You have to do the work. You have to lean in and do the work," he said.

"Heroes of the Faith"

Part of the summit's theme reflected how everyday working leaders are "heroes of the faith" where they work. Referencing Hebrews 11, Proudfit said, "We can recognize 'heroes of the faith' by the choices they make—one choice at a time. Over the last year and a half, within our AWOP community, I have watched so many 'heroes of the faith'—every day working Christians—making incredibly tough choices in the middle of the challenges of a global pandemic, economic disruption, racial injustice, political polarization, and more."

The first panel representing these every day "heroes of the faith" included Dr. Paul LeCompte, Founder of Kings Veterinarian Hospital; Kathy Grossman, Mayor of City of Mason, Ohio; and Jason Goodall, Founder of The Insultants. The panelists shared rich stories and practical perspectives on how they intentionally make choices to integrate their faith at work, despite the challenges presented in a complicated work world.

Additional interviews continued the discussion on responding with God through transition, tough choices and in everyday interactions. Moderated by Ron Touby, City Director at CRU, featured panelists included Shelley Webb, Director of Faculty Support, Indiana Wesleyan University; Brandon Vorhees, Co-Founder, Make Music Cincinnati; and Karla Blair, Senior Operations Manager, GE Aviation.

Spencer Hogan, Director of Young Professionals AWOP, also led a discussion about collaborating across generations for legacy impact with Sabrina Donley, Senior Business Development Specialist, CybrCastle; Steve Dong, CEO, CybrCastle; and Paul Spencer, Operations Advisor, CybrCastle.

Binding the Faith at Work & City Transformation Movements Together

In his concluding remarks, Proudfit acknowledged how the global 2021 XL Summit was a milestone for the ministry: "Today is the day that we started to lay down those ties to 'bind together the rails'—the faith at work movement and the city transformation movement—so that we can be in and for the whole city," he said.

"As Christian marketplace leaders, we have a mandate to be strong stewards of the resources entrusted to us. As the Apostle Paul exhorts us in 1 Thessalonians 4, let us 'excel still more' to transform our world," he said.

For more information on AWOP and its ministry partnerships, visit http://www.atworkonpurpose.org or call 800-513-9580.

Media Contact

Laura Jackson, At Work On Purpose, (513) 477-2652, [email protected]

SOURCE At Work On Purpose

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