City Manager Jim Jeffers and Mayor Roger Van Horn have named Linda Flores as the new volunteer Chief Service Officer for the City of Nacogdoches. Mayor Van Horn is pleased to announce that Linda, will be responsible for the development and implementation of a high-impact service plan that leverages citizen service to address the city’s most pressing challenges. The City of Nacogdoches has partnered with AARP, Cities of Service, One Star Foundation and the United Way in developing this plan. Linda will work with administration experts and other key stakeholders, identify specific strategies to address community concerns, and plan service-related events that address the community concerns in a measureable way.
Linda’s extensive experience in public relations, marketing, volunteer services and event management made her an excellent choice for Chief Service Officer. She recently completed two years with the Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) as the Outreach Services Coordinator for Disaster Case Management for Hurricane Ike, working with agencies and elected officials in seventeen counties. Linda is a former high school English teacher, served as Vice-President of the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce for six years, and as Assistant Director of Magnolia Court Assisted Living before returning to SFA to complete a BAAS degree in both Business Occupations and Literature Studies, graduating in August, 2009. She holds the designations of ADQ , State of Texas Qualified Activity Director, for all aspects of Long Term Care Continuum since 2007, and IOM, certified Institute of Organization Management graduate in non-profit management , Colorado College, 2003, and training in disaster case management, 2009. “We are thrilled to have Linda as part of the team, we know that she is exactly what we need to create and implement our high impact service plan,” said Mayor Roger Van Horn. Linda is a graduate of Leadership Nacogdoches Class of 1999, Citizens Police Academy Alumni, served on the Boards of Directors for the Nacogdoches Treatment Center, Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful and Nacogdoches Crime Stoppers, member of the Fredonia Rotary Club, SFASU Alumni Association and a current member of the Nac 101 class.
Nacogdoches is one of 115 communities in the nation to begin the process of launching its local Cities of Service program. More than 100 mayors have joined the coalition and more than 30 cities have appointed a Chief Service Officer, a senior city official dedicated to developing and implementing a high-impact service plan that targets volunteers to the city’s greatest needs.
American cities face serious challenges and many communities want to take advantage of every resource available to them, including the time and energy of public-spirited residents, to address those challenges. Unfortunately, citizen service is often an underutilized or inefficiently utilized strategy by municipal governments. Cities of Service supports mayors to leverage citizen service, addressing local needs and making government more effective.
Last fall, Mayor Van Horn signed a “Declaration of Service”, committing to lead a multi-year effort to expand community service and volunteerism. “We are extremely excited to be partnering with AARP in this endeavor, said Mayor Van Horn. “What a wonderful example of private-public partnership that will benefit our city so greatly.” This initiative is supported in part by AARP, who for more than 50 years has been serving society and creating positive social change. The membership-based advocacy organization is helping bring Cities of Service to smaller cities across the country. The declaration of service is a commitment to develop a comprehensive service plan and a coordinated strategy focused on matching volunteers and community partners to the areas of greatest local need to accelerate the service movement and produce measurable goals ensuring that the voice of cities is heard in policy discussions, helping to achieve the goals of the Serve America Act.
About Cities of Service
Founded in New York City on September 10, 2009 by 17 mayors from cities around the nation, Cities of Service is a bipartisan coalition of mayors who have committed to work together to engage citizens in a multi-year effort to address pressing city needs through impact volunteerism. The coalition includes more than 100 mayors, representing nearly 50 million Americans across the nation. Cities of Service supports mayors to leverage citizen service strategies, addressing local needs and making government more effective. All Cities of Service efforts are characterized by a concept called “impact volunteering” – volunteer strategies that target community needs, use best practices, and set clear outcomes and measures to gauge progress.
About AARP
AARP was founded on the principle of service. Since its establishment in 1958, AARP has been dedicated to delivering value to its members through service. Now, with the heightened interest in civic engagement and a new vitality around service, including the passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009, AARP is well positioned to tap into the strength of its millions of members to help solve pressing problems at the community level through the Cities of Service – AARP Volunteer Chief Service Officer Initiative.
About the Cities of Service-AARP Volunteer Chief Service Officer Initiative
Through collaboration between Cities of Service and AARP, Cities of Service coalition members with less than 125,000 residents have been given the opportunity to appoint highly-skilled volunteers to serve as Chief Service Officers for one year, many of whom come from AARP’s membership. Chief Service Officers are senior members of the mayors’ leadership team and are responsible for the development and implementation of a high-impact service plan that leverages citizen service to address the city’s most pressing challenges. In addition to appointing a volunteer Chief Service Officer, participating cities receive a $5,000 Recognition Award from AARP and technical assistance from Cities of Service to develop and implement their high-impact service plans.
For more information about the declaration and the Cities of Service program, visit: http://www.citiesofservice.org Linda can be reached at City Hall, 936-559-2577 or via email, floresl@ci.nacogdoches.tx.us.
