Noon Rotarians Host Annual Rural-Urban Luncheon

(FROM LEFT, CARL BAKER, NORBERT SOLTWEDEL, NANCY OUEDRAOGO AND JULIE STEPHENS)

Effingham Noon Rotarians learned about efforts to expand broadband internet coverage in rural regions of Illinois at their 2023 Rural/Urbana Luncheon on March 22.

Nancy Ouedraogo addressed the topic. Ouedraogo delivers programming and technical assistance for organizational development, local government education, community surveys, facilitation, leadership, cultural competency, diversity/inclusion, and community broadband development. Her past experiences include database management for the University of Illinois International Programs (IIP), and International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) data analysis for the City of Bloomington, Illinois. She is an alumnus of the US Peace Corps, the US AmeriCorps, and was a Coverdell/Stevenson Fellow. She has a BA in Political Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an MS in Applied Community Development / Politics and Government from Illinois State University, and is currently pursuing a professional doctorate of public administration at University of Illinois Springfield. Her research interests are local government, public policy, economic development, civic engagement, democracy, decentralization, community development, and poverty alleviation.

University of Illinois Extension Advisor Carl Baker was also in attendance in advance of a listening session that night to attract funding for broadband internet. Noon Rotarians Julie Stephens and Norbert Soltwedel co-chair the luncheon each year.