The first in-person Big Table event since 2019 brought hundreds of people to the Civic Center to discuss diversity, business and life in Peoria.
“I thought we had a tremendous conversation,” said Joshua Gunn, following Thursday morning’s first panel on diversity, equity and inclusion in health care settings. Gunn is president and CEO of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the main forces behind the Greater Peoria Big Table. He also served as MC for the day’s four sessions.
Besides diversity, they included entrepreneurship, workforce development and quality of life in Peoria. Moderators of panels included health officials, business owners and nonprofit executives.
Gunn said deep conversations are important to the Big Table event, but it’s also important to prioritize actions after it ends.
“In order to get to that action, we have to break down silos, break down the stigmas, break down the stereotypes,” he said. “Get people around the table, close the divide and really move towards some action.”
Planning action can be difficult through digital meeting spaces and Gunn is thrilled the Big Table 2022 was able to return in-person to the Peoria Civic Center.
“There’s nothing like the energy of a room full of five or six hundred people connecting and collaborating,” he said. “You even saw the enthusiasm from the tables, celebrating amongst one another, you can’t replicate that in a virtual format.”
A stated goal of this year’s Big Table, announced at a press conference in August, was to bring a number of new faces to the event, broadening the scope of who attended and what industries or community backgrounds they came from. Gunn said he was pleased with the number of new people he'd seen so far.
“I think it’s a great combination of people who are already engaged in this type of work and new faces,” he said.
Among those new faces was Karlen Sandall, a first-time Big Table participant who works with OSF OnCall. Her role overseeing a group of digital health workers who help connect patients with resources outside of what can be provided in a doctor’s office equipped her to bring a unique perspective to the morning’s health care discussion.
“There are a lot of people from different agencies in our area, there are some representatives from other states (at our table),” she said. “They just brought up a lot of great talking points to things I hope to implement here.”
Sandall said a recurring theme at her table was trust in the health care environment.
“I think building trust,” she said. “And just trying to understand at what point do we start building trust with community members, patients, anybody that we’re, you know, walking past.”
Conversations like these are the ones that organizers hope will bring new faces back for another year of the Big Table. When asked if she would return, Sandall was enthusiastic.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Because even at our first table, I learned so many different things that I had no idea about. Just knowing that there’s so many people here that I can start connecting with and seeing how we can lean on each other in future work, I think is huge.”
In order for there to be implementation, conversations have to continue outside of the Civic Center. Gunn said the key to following up on these conversations is being available and collaborative.
“In order for us to truly move the region forward, we’ve got to have every voice at the table,” he said. “Not just the usual suspects, not just the chamber folks, and your economic development folks. But the people who are everyday Peorians. Out here working hard, providing for their family, navigating some significant challenges.”
According to Gunn, a wider array of input makes it easier to put together a strategy for the whole region.
You can find recordings of some past Big Table meetings, as well as an upcoming report and recap of this year’s event, here.
