Greetings, Everyone!
The CORA Board held its strategic planning meeting on January 30th, 2021. The goal was to establish objectives for 2021 and to begin to flesh out a plan on how to move forward in those areas.
The Board started off by reflecting on 2020. COVID created many problems, but it also led to opportunities. During the shutdown, many people turned to the outdoors for entertainment. There were many new faces on the trails! CORA met its annual membership goal of 500. Members were also more involved; CORA exceeded its goal for the number of people participating in trail days. As a result of the extra hands out there building and maintaining trails, there were more open days for people to get out and ride, hike, or run! These successes demonstrate the resilience and commitment of the trail community in the Cincinnati region.
Moving forward in 2021, the Board has identified three objectives on which to focus their efforts: transparency/communication, community building, and TRAILS! These objectives reflect CORA’s mission of developing a thriving community of mountain bikers and other trail users through advocacy for sustainable and accessible trails. Here are some of the initiatives you can expect to see develop in the coming year:
Communication/Transparency: Ongoing communication with our members is important! This is why you will see monthly updates on the CORA blog which summarize the discussions from monthly board meetings. This will be a great way for you to stay connected to the work CORA is doing. There are also plans for a quarterly announcement on the “state of the trails”. Stay tuned!
Community Building: As we return to “normal”, CORA would like to plan social events so that members can connect with one another and share their passion for mountain biking and trails. This means the return of group rides, trail day cookouts, etc. We also hope to throw some new kinds of events into the mix, but we’re not ready to share our ideas just yet.
Trail Development: It’s why we exist! CORA seeks to expand miles of accessible, sustainable trail. This wouldn’t be possible without fundraising efforts and the help of our volunteers. The Board will keep you abreast on fundraising events and trail projects. There will also be plenty of opportunities to get involved!
The Board would like to receive feedback from the community. What are your thoughts on CORA’s objectives for 2021?. Do you have any great ideas related to these objectives? We’d love to hear them. Feel free to respond to this blog post or on social media. Let’s get the discussion started!
Sincerely,
Cori Stevens Secretary, CORA