Overview:

The Village Square is a non-partisan public educational forum on matters of local, state and national importance. We are dedicated to maintaining factual accuracy in civic and political debate by growing civil dialog on divisive issues, and recalling the history and principles at the foundation of our democracy.  In Broward County, the Village Square is a partnership between the Village Square – a 501c3 nonprofit and Broward College. This partnership has excited since 2014-2015 and Strategic Philanthropy has built and managed the program since inception.

The College hosts a variety of large community forum/events every year that provide a safe and comfortable forum for civic engagement on diverse matters of local, state and national importance.  The goal of these non-partisan public educational forums is to grow civil dialog on divisive issues, maintain factual accuracy in civic and political discussions, and rediscovering the democratic spirit of debate.

Approach:

Strategic Philanthropy (SPI) manages the Village Square Advisory Board, which oversees programming including topics and panelists.  The board is made up of 25 members representing a mix of political affiliations, race, gender, age and industries. As of 20-21, the Advisory Board members consists of 50 percent are Democrats, 33 percent are Republican, and 16 percent are No Party Affiliation (NPA) or Independents. More importantly, board has 12 men and 13 women and have  a make-up of 15 Caucasians and 10 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of color).

Each year, the new Advisory Board meets in early summer to determine the topics for the entire year. A wide range of issues is considered. The Advisory Board is divided into sub-committees to explore each topic further and discuss areas that would need to be covered and propose potential speakers. The Advisory Board reviews all suggestions to determine the right makeup of the panel, including balance to both sides of the debate, that is, arguments for and against; expertise; civility; name recognition; access to speakers; gender, race and other important facets of diversity.

SPI is responsible for the success of the program and in addition to overseeing the advisory board, manages the following for the College:

• Planning all logistics for 3-4 dinners/events
• Working with volunteers to secure key partners and sponsors to promote and support events
• Overseeing all communication and marketing materials
• Assisting with budget and reporting

Results:

As of 2020-2021, the Village Square has had the following results:

• # of Total Event Attendees (data collection began in 2018)
  • Breakdown of Ethnicity
    • African American/Black: 172 -18%
    • American Indian or Alaskan Native: 1 – 1%
    • Asian: 23 – 4%
    • Caucasian: 412 – 8%
    • Choose Not To Disclose: 193 – 0%
    • Hispanic: 108 – 2%
    • Other: 51 –  3%
    • Prefer Not to Answer: 3 – 3%
  • Breakdown Gender
    • Male: 295 – 35%
    • Female: 450 – 54%
    • Choose Not To Disclose: 94 – 11%
  • Breakdown of Age
    • Under 18: 4 – 4%
    • 18-15: 34  – 8%
    • 26-40: 162 – 0%
    • 41-64: 418 – 5%
    • 65 and Over: 88 – 8%
    • Choose Not To Disclose: 192 – 4%
  • Top 3 Cities
    • Fort Lauderdale
    • Hollywood
    • Plantation
  • Event Attendance vs. Turnout
    • 24 Events since 2016
    • Registered – 2,767
    • Attended – 1,839
    • Attendance Rate – 66%
  • # of Sponsors: 20 (nonduplicated)
  • # of Partners: 32 (nonduplicated)