MANSFIELD — Welcome to the Ideas of March!
Over the next couple of weeks, the Source has partnered with Mansfield Rising and the Richland County Foundation to introduce nine new ideas for a better Mansfield and Richland County.
Each day will bring a new idea and a new opportunity to ask questions and get involved.
Are the Ideas of March different from Mansfield Rising?
These nine new ideas are an extension of the original Mansfield Rising Plan developed in 2018. The framework developed through Mansfield Rising has underpinned dozens of redevelopment projects since it was released.
In early 2024 an anonymous donor who had watched and been impressed by the progress and headway driven by Mansfield Rising extended an offer to send a second group to South by Southwest to become inspired and join the effort.
Think of this new group and their contribution as reinforcement and new energy for Mansfield Rising. They’re often referred to as Mansfield Rising 2.0.
The Ideas of March are the result of nearly a year of work from the eight volunteers who took the bold step to join what’s become a revolutionary community development effort.
This new cohort brought their passion and deep community research to a proven venture development framework rooted in business startups. Their projects were honed through rigorous feedback loops with one another and experienced advisory groups.
On behalf of everyone involved in Mansfield Rising, Jenn and I hope you are inspired by the next couple of weeks. We look forward to your feedback!
Blogs from the “Mansfield Rising 2.0” Team During Their Time in Austin, TX
What is Mansfield Rising and how did it begin?
The original Mansfield Rising project in 2018 was a big risk with no clear path to success. Something like Mansfield Rising had never been done in Mansfield, nor anywhere else.
No community foundation sent 15 people to an ideas festival in Texas and then tasked them — as unpaid volunteers — to build a framework for growth, development, and investment.
The big question was what would happen after the plan had been developed and delivered.
No one knew if Mansfield Rising would become a rallying point for community action or a footnote in the long line of plans gathering dust on shelves throughout the region.
Citizen-led Mansfield Rising plan catalyzed over $22 million across
The Mansfield Rising Plan has done a lot of things since 2018; gathering dust has not been one of them.
Seventeen of the original 39 proposed projects are either completed or in-process. Among them are unmistakable improvements such as:
- The recently kicked off Main Street Improvement Project
- A unified county-wide brand
- Widely used facade improvement grants
- Two-way street conversions on Diamond and Walnut Streets
- Free public wi-fi in Downtown Mansfield
Projects noted in the Mansfield Rising plan have attracted tens of millions of dollars in public, private, and philanthropic investment from dozens of public and private sources that may never have appeared otherwise.
Mansfield Rising had the unexpected effect of turning into a powerful leadership development accelerator.
The citizen planners have developed a deep trust in one another and radically expanded the diversity and nature of their professional networks. Since 2018, members of the original cohort have:
- Founded businesses and non-profit organizations
- Acquired and expanded manufacturing facilities
- Ran for and been elected to public office. School boards, city council seats, and the Mayor’s office are now occupied by Mansfield Rising members.
The Mansfield Rising plan received seed funding from The Richland County Foundation and has been examined and lauded for its innovative structure since it was released in 2019.