Vaughn Grisham to Speak in Asheville

Vaughn Grisham

Vaughn Grisham has made it his life’s work to study community, change and leadership. He will be in Asheville to discuss the role of local community leadership in fostering change.

Grisham, will speak at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 1, at Lord Auditorium at Pack Library downtown. His lecture is part of the Asheville Downtown Association’s Speakers Series. It is free and open to the public.

The Director of the McLean Institute for Community Development and professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi, Grisham has written four books on leadership and community development; he is a nationally known speaker who has worked in leadership and community development in more than thirty states and two Canadian provinces. In addition, he has authored more than 100 articles and produced and directed two films. He has been selected for numerous awards and recognition at the University of Mississippi, including Outstanding Professor and Citizen of the Year in Lafayette County, Mississippi.

In a recent talk in West Virginia, Grisham spoke of community problem-solving shifting to the local level, even as the tidal force is moving toward a global society. Community organizations and leaders will play an important role in helping communities make the adjustment to local control in solving problems like education, health care, and crime, he said.

In small towns across America, Grisham warns, main street merchants struggle to compete against national and multi-national corporations. While these merchants were once actively involved in their community's development, many will not make it. "I suspect these nationals . . . won't have the community interest or the community status," Dr. Grisham said. The reduction of community newspapers represents another lost resource, Grisham said. Today, many small papers are owned by chains and "they don't see with the same clarity, the same immediacy, the problems that we have," he said.

In addition to his presentation in Asheville, Grisham will speak at the Broyhill Conference Center on the ASU campus in Boone, NC at 1:30 p.m, Tuesday, June 1.

The Downtown Speakers Series is an ongoing educational program of the Asheville Downtown Association in partnership with the NC Division of Community Assistance, Appalachian State University, AdvantageWest, Quality Forward and HandMade in America. Funding for this year’s program is provided by a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission through the NC Division of Community Assistance and from the Asheville Downtown Association and HandMade in America.