The Civic Health Diagnostic Workbook: For Cities, Counties, and Other Communities

Sarah J. Read, president of The Communications Center, Inc., has more than 25 years experience in helping others resolve complex issues.  Sarah's clients have included both large and small businesses, professional firms, non-profits, community groups, educational institutions and governmental organizations.  The matters she has worked on include large complex regulatory and legislative disputes, visioning and strategic planning efforts, and community dialogues. She has also helped many boards and teams improve the way they work together and their ability to collaborate with others. Sarah served on the Missouri Supreme Court Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution, and has been an invited speaker on collaborative governance , civic engagement, and conflict resolution at several conferences, including conferences hosted by the Missouri Municipal League and the Central Indiana Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants.  She has received numerous professional awards and recognitions, including an AV Preeminent™ rating by Martindale Hubbell, recognition by her peers as one of the Best Lawyers in Administrative/Regulatory Law, and by Corporate Counsel magazine as a "Top Lawyer" in Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Law.

Dave Overfelt is an Associate Consultant with The Communications Center, Inc. and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Rochester Institute of Technology, working with the Urban and Community Studies program. Dave works with dialogue based urban development processes and his research emphasizes the need for the sciences to engage with their broader communities. He has published many articles, most recently "Planning for Possibility: Opening Democracy in an Ordinary City" in Critical Sociology . He was, along with David Brunsma and Steven Picou, an editor for The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on A Modern Catastrophe, Vol. 1 and 2, published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2010. He received his B.A. in sociology, Magna Cum Laude with honors, his M.A. in sociology, with honors, and his Ph.D., with honors, from the University of Missouri. In addition to teaching and researching, Dave has spent the last several years working as a facilitator for community dialogues, strategic planning processes, diversity programs, and other complex engagement processes involving small and large groups.