‘Pizza and Purpose’ event for Community Week draws unexpected crowd

Coordinating council discusses 2024 update to Our Big Sky Vision 

By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR 

The Big Sky Chapel’s downstairs meeting space filled with roughly 90 people on Thursday afternoon, as the Coordinating Council of Big Sky hosted an open dialogue with community members. Community Week organizers had to pull in extra chairs once all the tables filled.  

Lizzie Peyton, co-leader of CCBS and director of community sustainability for Big Sky SNO, said the primary intention of Thursday’s meeting was to help community members understand two things: what is the coordinating council, and what is the Our Big Sky Vision, which recently received its second update since creation in 2019. Both entities—one an organization, the other a goal-oriented document—aim to connect community across collective goals.  

The CCBS is a group of established community leaders working to function as a liaison between public organizations and efforts already happening in Big Sky, and the broader community. Peyton said the goal is for CCBS to unify these regular leaders and invite all community members to participate, to ensure that CCBS can constructively inform philanthropic funders and local business owners about what the community actually wants. 

“We want to make sure that the leaders in the community aren’t getting stuck in an echo chamber, and we all think something is a good idea, when really we aren’t getting the feedback from the community that maybe something’s not working,” Peyton told EBS after Thursday’s meeting. “And maybe we need to slow the roll and, like, sit down and have a conversation about it.” 

The vision of CCBS is a connected and thriving community, Peyton said, and its mission is to shepherd the Our Big Sky Vision to accomplish community goals.  

In 2019, the Big Sky Resort Area District created the Our Big Sky Vision to align a variety of perspectives and efforts. In 2023, BSRAD and the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation handed off the Our Big Sky Vision to CCBS.  

“And then we became self-governing as CCBS without the funders in the room, to really make sure we were able to bring community voices to the table,” Peyton said.  

The coordinating council wanted to provide a space for open dialogue and potential unanswered questions after large public meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

“Seeing those opportunities to discuss things out in the open in a transparent way is incredibly helpful so misinformation doesn’t get spread,” Peyton said. In the meeting, she emphasized that in an intentional environment, contentious topics are good. 

“So we’re creating a safe space for people to bring concerns to the table… what solutions already exist, what are possible future solutions,” she said.  

David O’Connor, CCBS member and executive director of the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, said in the meeting that every organization and effort in Big Sky began this way over the past five decades—people getting together in a room for two-way conversations.  

“Nobody did that for us,” O’Connor said, referring to the creation of various nonprofits and government service districts. “… We did that all from within.” 

O’Connor is confident that when community members are passionate about a local issue, the Our Big Sky Vision will be a resource to learn what may already be in progress, and who to contact with feedback or support.  

Call to action for Big Sky residents 

Peyton said concerned residents should reach out to strategy sector leaders who are listed in the Our Big Sky Vision document, and attend board meetings—like the Big Sky Transportation District, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce, Visit Big Sky, and BSRAD—to provide public comment. 

“Get in those first couple minutes. They always have space for public comment at the beginning,” Peyton said.  

CCBS will host three community forums per year, scheduled online at Navigate Big Sky and communicated through various platforms—one will take place during Community Week each year, Peyton said.  

She also encourages community members to email the group at ccbigskyinfo@gmail.com for more information.