December 2022 Newsletter: A New Year Brings Renewed Possibility
2023 is around the corner. A new year brings renewed possibility.
But the stroke of midnight on December 31 doesn’t mean our society’s challenges will have fundamentally improved. There is still work to do.
Many will say we can’t make progress. But that’s wrong. In communities across the country, people are working across divides. They’re not only producing impact, they are shifting our civic culture. They’re doing it by stepping forward and then turning outward, focusing on their shared aspirations, and getting in motion.
The holiday season brings time to rest and reflect. Take a moment to celebrate your wins from this year - however small. Then, begin to focus on your aspirations for you and your community in the new year. Come back to your work feeling refreshed and ready to be a catalyst for change.
There is a way forward in 2023. We can build a new trajectory of hope. Together.
All my best,
Rich Harwood
New Public Capital Report: ALAMANCE CHOOSING HOPE
A New PATH FORWARD For the Community
Alamance County, NC, located between the Research Triangle and Greensboro, is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. Although residents in the county are proud to call Alamance home, there is a deep history of geographic, racial, and economic divisions. They now face a fundamental choice: take a path of the status quo, which will only deepen divides, mistrust, and fear, or choose an alternative path of building a community for everyone.
After interviewing leaders and talking with residents across Alamance County, The Harwood Institute, in partnership with Impact Alamance, produced a new report—Alamance Choosing Hope—that’s already catalyzing action and strengthening the community’s civic culture.
This month after releasing the report, Rich Harwood led nearly twenty community roundtable discussions with residents and leaders across Alamance. These discussions served as an entreaty: who will raise their hand to take back the public square from those who are trying to tear us apart? People are already stepping forward. In February, we’ll host a Getting Started lab in the county to help public innovators determine how to come together, form core action teams based on their shared aspirations, and move forward on a more inclusive, hopeful path.
Alamance County is one of seven communities across the country where we are on the ground. Each community represents distinct fault lines. Collectively, they represent the mosaic of our country and prove that, under the right conditions, meaningful community-led change is possible.
Rich’s Healing and Hope Tour: Suncoast, FL
The latest stop on Rich’s Healing and Hope tour, which kicked off this spring following the release of the Civic Virus report, was hosted by The Patterson Foundation in Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, FL.
Rich spoke pointedly about the vacuum in civic life. Our public square has been hijacked. Groups and organizations are retreating to the edges or weaponizing narrow agendas.
He asked them, “Will you surrender to these groups that want to divide you and demonize people, or will you step forward into the public square and take back your community? The work may be complicated, but the choice is not.”
Americans are builders, inventors, innovators, Rich said. Throughout history, change hasn’t come from merely talking. People like you have taken action. When we build together, we feel a sense of civic joy and accomplishment.
At each event during the tour stop, Rich spent a long time signing books and connecting with attendees. People brought their neighbors, friends, children and grandchildren and wanted to share their stories. Many participated in our Public Innovator labs a decade ago and have been leveraging the Harwood approach to transform their work and their communities ever since.
We are actively planning 2023 tour stops - now is your chance to uplift and invigorate your community with an in-person or virtual convening with Rich!
The Latest From Rich’s Blog:
10 Years Later: My Time in Newtown and Reflections on Our Society
Ten years ago last week, a gunman killed twenty first graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Just weeks later, I was called into Newtown to help the community move forward.
The U.S. has more guns on the street than any other nation. Many Americans from all walks of life agree we need sensible gun reform. I do, too. But something more profound is creating the conditions for mass shootings. My Sunday letter asks us to reimagine our future and the kind of society we’re creating.