Your Town Alabama - Designing Its Future

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Your Town Alabama - Designing Its Future

The Your Town Alabama workshop is a first step in meeting these needs.

Whether the threat is sudden growth or stagnation, planning and design decisions can often make the difference between survival and decay, between healthy prosperity and decline.

09/04/2026

Already been to our annual workshop, but want to get a deeper understanding of placemaking? Well, we have good news for you!!

Jason Fondren, Principal Planner at KPS Group, will be leading a session at the YTA Alumni Workshop designed to get your placemaking brain buzzing. You'll learn placemaking principles and sharpen the tools you were introduced to during your first trip to camp.

Alumni Workshop
Sep. 24-25, 2026
Camp McDowell
yourtownalabama.org/alumni

ABOUT JASON FONDREN ↓
Specializing in urban design and city planning, Jason has led planning teams performing city- and area-specific planning, code development, corridor planning and design, downtown and neighborhood revitalization, campus planning, and historic preservation. Active and highly regarded in Alabama’s planning community, he is called upon frequently for speaking engagements throughout the state on a variety of topics. Jason volunteers his time and talents through Design Alabama, Alabama APA, Your Town Alabama, and Main Street Alabama, and has served on the City of Birmingham Planning Commission.

09/03/2026

This time of year usually comes with a packed calendar, but this could be you later this month at the Alumni Workshop.

September 24-25, Camp McDowell
Registration closes September 11
yourtownalabama.org/alumni

09/02/2026

Do you wish you could experience the Your Town Alabama Workshop again?

We're launching a program exclusively for our alumni! YTA's Alumni Workshop is a chance to sharpen the tools you learned the first time you came to camp. Together, we'll explore how storytelling and placemaking work hand in hand to build stronger, more resilient rural communities.

Sept. 24-25, 2026
Camp McDowell
105 Delong Rd, Nauvoo, AL
Registration closes Sept. 11

Register here → yourtownalabama.org/alumni

08/28/2026

The connections made at YTA's flagship workshop are important for both building partnerships and reminding us that we're not doing this work alone. Through our Porch Time events, we hope to foster spaces where neighbors, partners, and friends can come together to enjoy an evening of fellowship.

Next Porch Time:
September 15, 5 - 7 PM
War Eagle Room at the Graduate by Hilton Auburn

Grab a ticket: porch-time-auburn-2026.eventbrite.com

08/26/2026

Come share your story at the Alumni Workshop! The David Mathews Center for Civic Life will lead a session for alumni to reflect, connect, and learn from each other.

→ How did participating in Your Town Alabama change your community?
→ What were some of the lasting effects of your experience?

During this interactive session, DMC’s Programs & Outreach Coordinator Chauntina Whittle (YTA '25) and Executive Director Scotty Kirkland (YTA '26) will explore these questions and more through a ripple effects mapping exercise, a highly visual way to chart the outcomes of a participatory experience. By exploring YTA’s impact through reflective dialogue, we’ll share stories of connection and change, and see how the experiences that flowed from Camp McDowell have transformed our state in inspiring, sometimes unexpected ways.

Sep. 24-25, 2026
Camp McDowell
yourtownalabama.org/alumni

ABOUT THE DAVID MATHEWS CENTER ↓
Founded in 2005, the nonprofit, nonpartisan David Mathews Center for Civic Life promotes civic skills for a stronger Alabama. DMC-sponsored programs in communities, classrooms, and campuses around the state nurture the everyday habits that make our democracy work: curiosity that opens doors, respect that bridges difference, and a shared purpose that can carry everyone forward.

08/25/2026

Every great place has a story — and every story has the power to shape a place. This year’s Your Town Alabama Alumni Workshop explores how storytelling and placemaking work hand in hand to build stronger, more resilient rural communities. Join us for two days of learning in true Your Town Alabama spirit: hands-on, collaborative, and fun.

Sep. 24-25, 2026
Camp McDowell
yourtownalabama.org/alumni

08/21/2026

We're excited to welcome Robert Finkel (YTA '24) as the keynote speaker for the Alumni Workshop!

Finkel will lead a session that demonstrates how, through research, collaboration, and visual communication, design helps reveal stories that can strengthen communities and foster shared experiences.

Learn more about how to use design as an act of visual storytelling that shapes how people understand ideas, places, histories and one another at the YTA Alumni Workshop: Sept. 24-25, 2026.

Register at yourtownalabama.org/alumni.

ABOUT ROBERT FINKEL ↓
Robert Finkel is a Professor of Graphic Design at Auburn University with more than 18 years of experience as a designer and educator. His professional design work and teaching have been recognized nationally and internationally through exhibitions, design competitions, conferences, and publications. Alongside his professional practice, Finkel collaborates with historians, museums, archives, and community organizations to foster public engagement with Alabama's cultural heritage and history through collaborative research, documentation, and visual storytelling. Finkel is also a valued board member of Your Town Alabama.

08/19/2026

Thinking about attending the Your Town Alabama Alumni Workshop? Here's what you'll leave with:

→ A clearer framework for identifying and telling a compelling community story
→ A deeper understanding of how design and planning decisions can respond to a community's real needs, assets, and identity
→ New ways to solve familiar problems
→ Practical tools for using storytelling and visual communication to engage neighbors, build support, and drive local placemaking efforts

Join us at Camp McDowell, Sept. 24-25, 2026.

Learn more and register at yourtownalabama.org/alumni

08/17/2026

Every great place has a story — and every story has the power to shape a place. This year's Your Town Alabama Alumni Workshop explores how storytelling and placemaking work hand in hand to build stronger, more resilient rural communities.

We're excited to welcome Hersick + Webster to lead our kickoff session that gives participants a simple, practical way to break storytelling into its building blocks. In the spirit of YTA, they will lead a playful session that inspires curiosity and a little creative momentum.

Join in the storytelling fun at yourtownalabama.org/alumni.

WHO IS HERSICK + WEBSTER?
Hersick + Webster Creative Partners is a strategy and brand consultancy for communities, destinations, and mission-driven organizations. They help places figure out what makes them special, and create ideas and experiences that activate and celebrate these things in meaningful ways. For more than 25 years, they've helped leaders find what makes their place genuinely awesome — and build the story, strategy, and tools to share it with the world.

08/13/2026

Meet us at the Graduate by Hilton in Auburn! Get ready to connect with peers, share ideas, and build relationships that strengthen our communities.

What: Porch Time, a community-building social event for Auburn
When: September 15, 2026, 5-7 PM
Where: War Eagle Room at the Graduate by Hilton Auburn

The social will be held in conjunction with the Government & Economic Development Institute - GEDI at Auburn University's Intensive Training Course. We hope to see you there!

RSVP: porch-time-auburn-2026.eventbrite.com

Address

Selma, AL
36701-36703

Website

http://www.yourtownalabama.org/

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