The Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce has received word from Melbourne, Australia, that the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) will recognize the Chamber for using facilitation to have a positive impact through Project Rebound.

"We have been fortunate to receive exceptional support from Sarah Collie, Mary Brackett, and Reid Thompson from the Organizational Excellence program at UVA," said Chamber President & CEO Elizabeth Cromwell. "Their execution of Project Rebound meetings has set the bar for effective meeting management for us in the region to emulate going forward."

Project Rebound is an ongoing local economic recovery effort led by the Chamber and economic development partners from the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the University of Virginia.

Project Rebound was one of 17 projects selected from around the globe – and one of three in the United States – to receive the 2020 Facilitation Impact Award. IAF will honor the awardees with a virtual ceremony on Monday, October 26. At that time, IAF will reveal who has received silver, gold, or platinum recognition based on the scores designated by volunteer reviewers from 20 countries.

Cromwell, Collie, Brackett and Thompson will jointly accept the award, which honors individual facilitators along with the organization leading each selected project.

Read the full news release.

About the Facilitation Impact Awards and IAF

As a professional association with members in more than 65 countries, the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) is well placed to recognize the power of facilitation worldwide. For more than 20 years they have been strong advocates for the power of facilitation in helping organizations to address challenges and achieve results.

The Facilitation Impact Awards (FIA) honours organizations that have used facilitation to achieve a measurable and positive impact as well as the facilitator(s) who worked with them.

More information about the awards can be found here.