From Georgia Forward’s mission statement: We believe that Georgia’s challenges cannot be met by government, industry, academia or civil society alone. Improving Georgia requires all of our state’s stakeholders to communicate and collaborate in order to proactively address challenges and seize opportunities.
We believe that political rhetoric has masked an important reality: Each corner of Georgia, however different from one another it may be, is interdependent and rises and falls together.
Finally, we believe that visionary ideas and strategic solutions for our state can only be found through constant interaction between stakeholders and the most knowledgeable, innovative people.
Comments from Georgia Forward attendees
Navneet Singh Narula, founder of nBrilliance: “We’re in tough times, we’re in trying times and that’s exactly why we need to have this conversation, because if we don’t, no one else will.”
Ross Mason, founder of the Healthcare Institute for Neuro-Recovery and Innovation: “We’re facing many challenges in Georgia today. There are [also] many, many opportunities for us.”
“If we’re going to survive as a state, if we’re going to be relevant, we have got to innovate as a state.”
“We need bold, innovative, visionary leadership as a state.”
“It’s not going to be government that bails us out, it’s going to be communities and our love and compassion for each other.”
Stephen Fleming, vice provost, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute: “We don’t need any more fads in our economy, but we can use more innovation.”
“You can’t get away from government. At all levels, government is part of the innovation chain.”
Harry Lange, chairman, Harris County Commission: “While Atlanta is the engine that drives the state, there are a lot of other working parts in the [other] counties. A lot of people don’t like Atlanta.”
On the 2012 transportation tax vote
Tom Ratcliffe, vice chair, Coastal Georgia Regional Water Planning Council: “Democracy is a wonderful system, it’s just not simple. We’ve planned together on a regional basis, now we’re going to find out whether we can share dollars together on a regional basis.”
Paul Bennecke, campaign consultant: “We all know we have a serious problem. It’s suffocating us economically and affecting our quality of life.”
