Since its inception three years ago, the PW Perspective’s mission has been to uplift the voices that reflect our community. Whether it’s education, economics or health equity issues in Prince William County, the focus has been to provide a platform for solutions-based concepts to solve the county’s biggest issues. As a result, there has been an increase in readers asking, “I have something I want to say, but I don’t know how to express it.”

Starting next month, we are beginning a new process that will enable passionate individuals the opportunity to do so with the Community Editorial Board. What we are looking for is for people who want to discuss the issues that are of importance where they live, and are willing to be trained to become media experts on these topics. This process will involve free training and follow up for several weeks in order to create thought-provoking editorials with a solutions-based lens.

What does it take to join the board? For starters, you must be a resident of Prince William County and second…that’s it. We’re looking for not just people who have expertise in a particular subject, but also people with lived experiences that simply wants to discuss something that matters most to them. However, any member must have a respect for diversity of opinions, and cover issues that impact our community. We will do the rest. Of course, there will be a stipend as well to those who are accepted onto the board.

To apply, simply send a 100-word paragraph on what issue(s) you would like to discuss and why it’s important to you to our Editor John Reid at jreid@pwperspective.com. We’re taking applications until September 23, with a decision on who will join the board on September 30th.