Moving Ahead Together
Forward your community’s vision
Are you looking to foster community change? The West Virginia University Moving Ahead Together program seeks community partners who are ready to get started. Moving Ahead Together is a partnership between WVU Extension and the Department of Public Administration’s Graduate Certificate in Community Development Policy & Practice (CDPP) program.
In collaboration with host communities, this service-learning program prepares recent college graduates and new professionals to make a difference, while offering in-practice professionals an opportunity to level up through graduate study. Students are prepared to work in government and nonprofit agencies or social enterprises that may strengthen people, generate economic capacity, and improve physical infrastructure or environmental quality.
These faculty and student teams would like to put their efforts to work with your community’s stakeholders and residents.
Embracing social, economic, and environmental justice
Moving Ahead Together is grounded in participatory democracy, enabling community members to empower themselves in the pursuit of well-being and quality of life. We put those who will experience the effects of plans and projects in the driver’s seat, building local government transparency, responsiveness, and accountability.
A proven developmental path over 18 months
The Moving Ahead Together approach follows a proven developmental path designed by
Dr. Margaret Stout that mobilizes stakeholder engagement, completes community assessment,
engages in participatory visioning and planning, and finally prioritizes strategies
to produce detailed project implementation plans. To ensure comprehensive community
development, social, economic, and environmental determinants of well-being and
prosperity are all considered, using a community capital framework.
Helpful staff and faculty
An Extension Agent acts as a host community liaison, working closely with local government representatives and WVU faculty to ensure success. Instructors have both practitioner and scholarly expertise that inform creative yet feasible strategies.
Applied fieldwork visits
WVU faculty and graduate student teams visit the host community each semester. Community stakeholders are invited to engage in research, visioning and planning sessions, and Project Action Teams.
Learn more and apply
To learn more about the Moving Ahead Together program or to apply to become a host
community, contact the Program Coordinator,
Daniel Eades. Become the next Moving Ahead Together community!