There was a lot to glean from this week’s AMBITIONFest!, but one thing stood out for us. And it’s something we want to — need to — share with our readers.

Rich Harwood of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation was Monday night’s keynote speaker, and he shared some of his life story, offered encouraging words and even some praise for Winchester-Clark County and the work that has taken place here since he last visited about three years ago.

Harwood had a lot of inspiring things to say, but we can’t get over this: “Frankly, there are so many of us waiting for somebody to come save us. We’re the ones we’re waiting for. We’re right here.”

We — the members of the community of Winchester — are the only ones who can enact the kind of the change we need in our community. And, while many a naysayer will try to convince us otherwise, we are fully capable of doing it.

There are a variety of local projects that have surfaced in the last few years that prove normal, every day people who call Winchester-Clark County home can be catalysts for change. It only requires that we step out of our heads, out of our comfort zones and work together.

Some of the projects are outlined in the recent “One Step At A Time” report, which can be read online at tinyurl.com/clark-report or at clarkambition.org.

You will learn more in depth about these projects in an upcoming four-part series in The Sun focused on the report and the local impact of these projects. The first installment will run in this weekend’s newspaper.

There are groups like Better Together Winchester, which planned a candidates forum during the last election and asked thought-provoking questions about inclusion and more to local candidates. That same group is planning a follow-up town hall meeting later this month.

And there’s Winchester Inspired By Nature, which aims to improve and protect the environment. That group has planned multiple events to help build community and to engage with their neighbors. They’ve done litter pick-ups, weekly walks, activities during Kids Day at the farmers’ market and hosted a community picnic event at College Park.

There are projects like the “Outside Our Door” play at Leeds Center for the Arts that gave a voice to some of the marginalized people we call neighbors.

Then there’s the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training — a four-part series of training aimed at tackling tough topics like racial barriers and cultural collisions.

We can name more and more, so keep an eye out for the series so you can understand more about how these groups of residents are making a positive change in our community.

While each project we will feature will focus on different areas of the community, they each have something in common: they were born out of a desire to address concerns outlined in the “Waving the Community’s Flag” report that came out in 2017.

That report revealed Winchester was at a crossroads. People felt divided by race, religion, socio-economic status and geography.

Residents had a desire for change, for growth, but didn’t know how to make it happen.

Dozens of residents signed up to be part of The Greater Clark Foundation’s Public Innovators lab, and then they turned outward and decided to “be the change they wanted to see.”

Local people banded together to form different committees each aiming to look for ways to solve problems, bridge gaps, heal wounds, unite their neighbors.

And they did it.

As Harwood said, we don’t need anyone else to be our hero, to swoop in and save Winchester-Clark County.

Our residents have what we need to enact change in our community. We are talented, inspired, wise, philanthropic, doers, believers. We are catalysts for change.

The proof that it’s possible is there. We need only to continue to capitalize on these efforts to push our community even further forward toward prosperity and unity.

We can’t wait to see it happen again and again.

Editorials represent the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board. The board is comprised of publisher Michael Caldwell and Bluegrass Newsmedia editors Whitney Leggett and Ben Kleppinger. To inquire about a meeting with the board, contact Caldwell at 759-0095.