The Harwood Approach

MOVING Communities and Society Forward

The Harwood approach is a community-driven practice developed through over 35 years of on-the-ground experience, rigorous research, and constant innovation. Our ideas and practices have spread to all 50 U.S. states and over 40 countries around the world because they work. We know what it takes to create change and hope.
 
 
 
 

CIVIC FAITH

The Harwood approach is rooted in a practical philosophy of Civic Faith, which holds that placing people, community, and shared responsibility at the center of our shared lives will create a more just, fair, inclusive, and hopeful society for all. To make Civic Faith real, we need to Turn Outward.

TURNING OUTWARD

Turning Outward is first and foremost an orientation—a mindset, a posture—of using the community, not our conference rooms, as our reference point for creating change. The Turning Outward practice provides frameworks and tools you can use to make more intentional choices and judgments so you can produce greater relevance, significance, and impact in your community.

HOW CHANGE HAPPENS

Based on over 35 years of work, The Harwood Institute has learned that change ripples in communities through the interaction of highly intentional actions and often serendipitous results, all of which can be proactively created. This change cascades and spreads through a series of chain reactions over time, and restores people’s belief that they can get things done together.

HOW YOU SHOW UP

When we step forward and turn outward with intentionality, we know what we stand for and what we value—and we rely on this grounding to guide us, especially during hard and challenging times. All of this requires showing up differently because to Turn Outward, create impact, and grow Civic Faith requires that we all step forward, figure out our contribution, and become agents of authentic hope.