Today we’d like to introduce you to Shadrina Booker.
Hi Shadrina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – To start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Born in New York, NY, and raised in Miami, FL, Shadrina Booker is an Afro-Latina of Dominican descent. Upon graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2009, she and her husband began their professional careers in Chattanooga, TN. During her time in the scenic city, she has enjoyed helping nonprofits and schools live out their missions of serving their populations at a high level. Before being appointed Director of Community Engagement for the City of Chattanooga, she served as the Chief Development and Marketing Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga and Director of Development at Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy. In addition, Shadrina is the co-founder of Vityl Media, a creative agency built to provide affordable and professional digital content for schools, small businesses, and nonprofit clients. Shadrina and her husband Justin are the proud parents of a 9-year-old son, Jonah. Shadrina hopes to leverage her experiences in the education and nonprofit spaces to connect with stakeholders within her community. She looks forward to strategically implementing a comprehensive engagement plan that intentionally focuses on equitably representing marginalized voices.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
There are many challenges in community engagement, both internal and external. Some of these barriers can be overcome through effective resourcing and a comprehensive and timely approach with continual reviewing of the risks and challenges. Because administrations have limited terms, the time needed to enact these changes may be affected. Also, engagement and trust go hand in hand – one cannot exist without the other. Because of this, one huge barrier to successful community engagement can be a need for more trust between the residents and those running the project, which occurs often when the government is involved. As small business owners, the largest hurdle we face is figuring out how to scale. Funding opportunities are limited as it relates to dollars that aren’t tied to loan terms. To grow our business, we would ideally employ regular full and part-time employees to effectively serve our customers and better assist in broadcasting their meaningful messages across social media channels, websites, and more.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
Community engagement is based on the common idea that everyone affected by issues impacting their community should have a say in the decision-making process. My role as the city’s connection between government and our citizens consists of consultation, participation, collaboration, and empowerment of the residents we serve. Moreover, it holds the promise that public participation should influence decisions that affect the foundation of services, future visions, and sustainability of our communities.
Community engagement captures its meaning in mutual decision-making. People, governments, and organizations work collaboratively to create and realize sustainable visions for their community’s future. As the liaison between our local government and organizations, it’s about working with and listening to communities to build long-term relationships and develop meaningful solutions to complex issues. By deepening these relationships, ideally, the value of inclusivity is central, where government entities create a dialogue using an equity lens to the very diversity of their communities.
In recognizing the needs and aspirations of all participants, community engagement promotes the idea that community members can and do influence policymaking through intentional interactions between government, organizations, and communities. Community engagement promises to engage the community better to help make better public decisions. It is, thereby, both an orientation toward the importance of community members’ lived experience to influence interactions between government, organizations, and communities and an approach that guides the process of those interactions.
We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My definition of success is putting forth a consistent effort, exhibiting a positive attitude, and working to get the best possible outcome. Success is always birthed from work ethic. Using both qualitative and quantitative measures, I often look back at my past work to evaluate the decisions made by me and the organization I represent.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @shadri_b
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shadrina.booker
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shadrina-booker/
- Other: @vitylmedia – [Business Instagram]
