Meet the Team, Jodi Adams, Strategic Lead for Active Communities

Up next in our Meet the Team series, our Strategic Lead for Active Communities, Jodi Adams, talks about the importance of working with communities to help get people moving more and being active.

Describe your role and responsibilities as Strategic Lead for Active Communities.

I am responsible for leading our work with communities across the Black Country, working closely with organisations/ partners to understand local needs and using community assets to create inclusive and attainable opportunities for people to be active, whilst helping to build stronger, better connected and more resilient communities.

How is Active Black Country making a difference in getting people active across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton?

Active Black Country makes a difference by putting communities at the heart of everything we do. We listen and learn from people’s lived experiences across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, using this insight to influence partners and shape approaches that better support people to be active.

What do you like most about the Black Country?

The people and the strong sense of community. There is a real warmth across the Black Country, and I am always made to feel welcome.

In your work, what has been your biggest personal achievement recently?

Working collaboratively with partners to deliver a programme of engagement opportunities across the Black Country, ensuring community voices are heard and actively shape our work. This includes establishing a community engagement forum in each Local Authority area, giving local people the opportunity to share the barriers they face to being active and to be directly involved in co-designing solutions. Through this work we are helping communities feel more listened to and empowered, with their insights directly influencing more relevant, inclusive and accessible opportunities for being active. This also provides our charity and wider partners with a deeper understanding of what matters most to people across the Black Country, strengthening our ability to connect, collaborate and influence meaningful change.

Describe yourself in three words?

Curious. Empathetic. Convener.

Describe what physical activity means to you and how it benefits your overallwellbeing?

Physical activity has many different meanings for me. At times, it gives me space for myself away from a busy schedule. But it also provides opportunities to connect with friends and spend quality time with my children, whether that’s walking to school or a trip to the park.