Rejuvenating Ourselves & Making a Real Difference: A Safe Haven for Funders
Many of our communities are simply stuck, or not making the progress we need. We hear repeatedly among philanthropic leaders: What’s the path forward?
On January 16-17, join a select number of fellow travelers who, like you, are working in tough complex spaces and seeking to make a real difference in their communities and society. You will leave feeling refreshed, regrounded, and re-energized.
Learn about and explore a new path forward for working differently with communities. We’ll examine what it really takes for communities to transform themselves and how we can actively support those efforts in ways that go beyond financial capital.
Come ready to take challenges head-on and have real conversations. This safe haven is designed expressly for philanthropic leaders. Hear from other funders. Explore what it really takes to create meaningful, sustainable change.
Open up. This event is a rare opportunity to process the challenges you’re personally facing. When you’re grappling with a lot, how do you make choices? How do you stay centered and hopeful?
Who Should Come
Funders (including Presidents and CEOs of funding organizations, vice presidents for programs, impact or strategy, board members, and other key high-level leaders) wrestling with any or all of the following issues:
You are doing good work, but want to know how deepen and accelerate it
You are not seeing the results you want because of changing conditions in society and increasing resistance
You are thinking about the direction of your work
Your organization or community are simply stuck—you need to find a way to jump start things
You are trying to find alignment with yourself, your board and/or your staff team
Come on your own or increase the event’s impact by bringing a small team made up of other leaders from your organization, board, or community. Experiencing the event together will give you new ways to work together and help you move in a shared direction in your community.
WHEN AND Where
Beautiful, warm, welcoming Sarasota, FL. The event will begin at 2:30 pm Thursday and end midday on Friday, so you have the opportunity to stay in town for the long weekend. This space is being convened by The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation with generous support from The Patterson Foundation.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota. Make your reservation here or call (941) 953-1234 and reference “The Harwood Institute” by 12/30/2024 to get group rate.
What to Expect from the agenda
This is not another conference. We place a premium on deep, real conversation, which we will generate together through large and small group discussion. The event will be led by Rich Harwood.
Key topics will include:
Why we do this work as funders
Our role as funders and the challenges we face in 2025
How change really unfolds in a community and how we can spark it
What it means to be truly catalytic
How we need to show up if we want to create real impact
How some funders have applied the Harwood approach and what they have learned
Fees
Thanks to generous support from The Patterson Foundation, there is no registration fee for this meeting. We will only collect a small fee of $199 to cover the cost of food and beverages.
2024 Harwood Summit
We started the Summit more than fifteen years ago because leaders said they needed a safe space where they could wrestle with tough and unique challenges without the need to perform. The Harwood Summit is a safe space for us to have an in-depth, serious and provocative conversation about what it will take for us to move our country and our communities forward. Our hope is that you’ll return home with a renewed sense of possibility and hope. Learn more about the Harwood Annual Summit here.
Our Crisis of Belief: Reclaiming a Shared Path After the Election
We suffer from a crisis of belief in this country. So while the election is over, the work we need to do to move our communities and this country forward is just beginning. How can we address the loneliness, despair, a lack of hope, and growing inequities and disparities that pervade society.
It’s not through more divisive politics. But we believe there is a path forward. So we’re holding a special virtual evening on November 21 at 7pm ET, featuring special guests, musical performances, and an intimate discussion of where we go from here. We’ll collectively wrestle with three questions that are at the heart of what happens post-election.
How do we come together as Americans after yet another bruising election cycle?
How do we tap into what makes us uniquely human in our community work?
How do we create what is missing from our shared public lives?
The Funder's Dilemma: The 5 Stages of Community Life
The 5 Stages of Community Life, one of the Institute's key frameworks, asserts that every community is in one of five stages. Each stage has its own implications for the types of investment and support that will help a community move forward.
As a funder, you face a particular dilemma: Are you going to calibrate your efforts to the stage your community is in or the stage you wish it was in?
During this highly interactive webinar, you’ll learn the 5 Stages of Community Life, identify which one your community is in, and explore how you can move forward more effectively given your stage.
Civic Convention: The Need For a New Civic Path
The presidential race has fundamentally changed. Yet the underlying conditions of the country and our communities remain the same—pervasive mistrust, growing inequities, a lack of hope. November’s outcome alone won’t solve those problems. Moving our country forward requires something deeper. That’s why Rich Harwood’s “Enough. Time to Build.” campaign is holding a Civic Convention to address why now, more than ever, we need a new civic path that can address the growing despair and chaos in society. Give us an hour and we’ll give you hope. August 28, 7-8:00 pm ET, featuring special guests and musical performances.
Navigating the Presidential Debate: Finding Hope
The first presidential debate is June 27. It's an important milestone in a crucial election year, but we can anticipate how it's going to make us feel—anxious, dispirited, frustrated by hyper-partisanship. To fortify ourselves and stay grounded as we move forward, we're hosting a special virtual event with Rich. Join us on June 26 at 7-8:30 pm ET for an evening of conversation, special guests, and musical performances that will inspire you to navigate the debate in a more hopeful way.
Harwood CIRCLE of Catalytic Funders Virtual Conversation
In the CIRCLE, funders come together to discover and explore how philanthropy can be catalytic, unleashing the potential of people and communities both by leading and getting out of the way. We examine how we can simultaneously address growing societal fault lines and strengthen civic culture.
There is power and knowledge in bringing together funders from different places, that work with different people, and have different levels of resources. Our current civic environment calls for a deep reckoning with the challenges faced by communities and the need for unparalleled action to address these challenges. In the CIRCLE, we bring our lived experiences to the table, learn from one another, innovate together, and discover new and deeper ways to take action in our communities while lifting up approaches that have national relevance.
We’d like you to join us for our next conversation, where we’ll talk about what we’re wrestling with, and how to find a more hopeful path forward.
In addition to this conversation, another conversation will be held:
Thursday, June 13 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am (Eastern time)
Agenda items will include:
Welcome & Setting the State
What are We Wrestling With?
The Hopeful Path Forward
Closing and Call to Action
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please contact Rachel Wade at rwade@theharwoodinstitute.org.
Harwood CIRCLE of Catalytic Funders Virtual Conversation
In the CIRCLE, funders come together to discover and explore how philanthropy can be catalytic, unleashing the potential of people and communities both by leading and getting out of the way. We examine how we can simultaneously address growing societal fault lines and strengthen civic culture.
There is power and knowledge in bringing together funders from different places, that work with different people, and have different levels of resources. Our current civic environment calls for a deep reckoning with the challenges faced by communities and the need for unparalleled action to address these challenges. In the CIRCLE, we bring our lived experiences to the table, learn from one another, innovate together, and discover new and deeper ways to take action in our communities while lifting up approaches that have national relevance.
We’d like you to join us for our next conversation, where we’ll talk about what we’re wrestling with, and how to find a more hopeful path forward.
In addition to this event, another conversation will be held:
Friday, June 14 from 9:00 am to 10:30 am (Eastern time)
Agenda items will include:
Welcome & Setting the State
What are We Wrestling With?
The Hopeful Path Forward
Closing and Call to Action
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please contact Rachel Wade at rwade@theharwoodinstitute.org.
Catalyzing Community-Led Change: Overcoming the Divisive and Narrow Politics of Our Time
Join ThoughtStretchers Education for an interactive online discussion on the key findings of The Harwood Institute’s new report, A Common Agenda: How Three Communities Overcame Societal Tumult to Create Educational Equity Agendas, with Rich Harwood, Founder and President of The Harwood Institute, and Brigitte Blom, President and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.
Rich and Brigitte will dig into what it takes for educators to catalyze community-led change and help to overcome the divisive, narrow politics of our time when it comes to the pursuit of education equity.
This online discussion is scheduled for April 18 at 4pm EST. This event is free, but registration is required. You will receive a Google Meet link in advance of the event in order to join. Come with questions for the audience Q&A!
About The Harwood Institute
Founded in 1988, The Harwood Institute equips people, organizations, communities, and networks with the tools to bridge divides, build capacity, and tackle shared challenges. By Turning Outward, we enable communities to become a collective force for change.
About The Prichard Committee
Since 1983, the Prichard Committee has worked to study priority issues, inform the public and policymakers about best practices, and mobilize citizens, business leaders, families, students, and other stakeholders in a shared mission to move Kentucky to the top tier of all states for education excellence and equity for all children, from their earliest years through postsecondary education.
Building Trust by Building Together
Amid today’s increasingly divisive politics and growing mistrust, it is imperative that we find ways to come together and take action. The best place to start is in our local communities. That’s why Living Room Conversations and The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation are teaming up for an interactive online discussion on April 4, 1 pm EST/10 am PST focused on building trust by building together.
Join Joan Blades (Founder of Living Room Conversations) and Rich Harwood (Founder and President of The Harwood Institute) for an intimate fireside chat, including audience Q&A, on what it will take to build trust in our local communities and how we might find the common ground we need to fundamentally move our communities forward.
The event will also equip you with practical tools to build trust and take productive civic action this election year.
How Funders Are Responding to Education Politicization: Lessons from the Harwood Approach
Join this Grantmakers of Education-hosted discussion about the power of community-led, community-driven change to ward off and overcome the ideological divides and fault lines plaguing so many of our communities. This panel will discuss the Harwood Institute's report, "A Common Agenda: How Three Communities Overcame Societal Tumult to Create Educational Equity Agendas." With a foreword written by EdFunders' Executive Director Nicole Rodriguez Leach, the report details how three very different communities each produced a shared education equity agenda at the height of the education culture wars. Each community is currently taking action to deliver real community-driven change through their agendas. The report highlights different lessons funders can learn about shifting civic culture and the kind of process it takes to discover a community's aspirations to inform strategy, approach and funding. The panelists will speak to the report's key findings, the unfolding narrative in each community and what funders can learn from each community's progress.
This event is intended for Grantmakers for Education members and other education grantmakers.
There is no cost to attend this Grantmakers for Education program. Registration closes 15 minutes prior to the program time. By registering for this program, you agree to their Learning Environment Commitment. Thank you for your patience; we review each registration in advance.
Enough. Time to Build. Campaign Civic Rally
It’s time to rethink what it means to rally! Amid our nasty politics, we need a space that builds us up, not further divides us. That nourishes us, not perpetuates negativity. That rallies us around one another and the good work happening in our communities. That restores a sense of possibility and hope. So we created the Civic Rally, hosted by Rich Harwood. Join us every other Friday at 1 pm EST starting March 22 to be nourished and supported as we work to build our communities.
Come as you are, when you can. You just need to register once to attend any of the rallies.
Enough. Time to Build. Campaign: Flint, MI
Join the Sloan Museum and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for a special event in the Owning Our Truth, Embracing Our Change informational series. On January 17, at 10:00am at St. Michael's Conference Center, nationally-renowned speaker and author Rich Harwood brings his national civic campaign ("Enough. Time to Build.") to Flint for a special keynote address followed by audience Q&A. This event is free and open to the public.
Rich's campaign calls on community leaders and active citizens to reclaim the public square from the most divisive voices and unleash our capacity as builders and doers. This event will explore how the Flint community can forge a new pathway forward, create a can-do narrative, and catalyze action using the most basic parts of Harwood's road-tested Turning Outward approach to community-led, community-driven change.
The New Basics with Rich Harwood: Personal Covenant and Personal Rejuvenation Tools
“The New Basics with Rich Harwood” webinar series will help you deepen and accelerate your work using our approach by providing you with real, practical ways to put our key concepts and resources into action. Whether you’re new to our work or you have been using our approach for years, this webinar series will expose you to stuff you haven’t seen before and open your eyes to new ways of doing things.
The final installment in this webinar series will cover the Personal Rejuvenation Tool, which will help you figure out what you need to sustain yourself and the Personal Covenant, which can help you stay accountable to meeting your goals in community work.
On this webinar, Rich Harwood will:
Detail the Personal Covenant and Personal Rejuvenation Tools
Help you understand how these tools can help you stay Turned Outward, sustain yourself and stay accountable over time
The New Basics with Rich Harwood: The North Star
“The New Basics with Rich Harwood” webinar series will help you deepen and accelerate your work using our approach by providing you with real, practical ways to put our key concepts and resources into action. Whether you’re new to our work or you have been using our approach for years, this webinar series will expose you to stuff you haven’t seen before and open your eyes to new ways of doing things.
The second in this webinar series will cover the Harwood North Star—one of our key roadmaps to guide your efforts in this work. The North Star will help you stay grounded in the practice so that you can accelerate, deepen your efforts and keep moving over time.
On this webinar, Rich Harwood will:
Walk you through the components of the North Star, what they mean and where they came from
Provide you with concrete ways to use the North Star to stay true to where you need to go and to stay grounded in what’s important in this approach
The New Basics with Rich Harwood: The Key Mantras
“The New Basics with Rich Harwood” webinar series will help you deepen and accelerate your work using our approach by providing you with real, practical ways to put our key concepts and resources into action. Whether you’re new to our work or you have been using our approach for years, this webinar series will expose you to stuff you haven’t seen before and open your eyes to new ways of doing things.
The first in this webinar series will cover the Key Mantras. The mantras are our work boiled down to its most essential components. People tell us the mantras help them move faster and stronger and use our work more effectively.
On this webinar, Rich Harwood will:
Give you a detailed look at each of the mantras, what they mean and where they came from
Show you how to incorporate the mantras into your own work and life
Help you understand how to use the mantras to build allies in your own organization and in the community, a critical step in helping you catalyze and spread change in your community
Healing & Hope Tour: Danville, VA
The Danville Regional Foundation will welcome Rich Harwood to the Dan River Region for a keynote event at the Institute for Advanced Learning & Research on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
During this event, Rich will lay out concrete ways for people and groups to begin working together by focusing on what they share in common and what they hope to create.
This dinner event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required by clicking here.
IERG Webinar: Critical Factors Affecting US Division and Its Impact on Political and Social Environment
Rich Harwood will join the International Executives Resources Group to discuss critical factors affecting US division and its impact on our political and social environment.
Divisions in the country are intrinsically about social and psychological conditions—such as fear, anxiety, and a lack of empathy and belonging—rather than about ideological polarization. Today, rather than being ‘polarized,’ Americans are profoundly isolated and disoriented, producing within people a fight-or-flight response. There are proven key actions we can take, which Rich will outline during the webinar.
The webinar is targeted at IERG members, but is open to all. Click here for more information and to register.
Ignite 2023! Spark Community Change Kickoff Event Featuring Rich Harwood
Norfolk's Department of Neighborhood Services welcomes Rich Harwood to kickoff their 2023 theme: Ignite 2023! Spark Community Change. Rich will bring his track record of inspiring small groups of change agents around the world to produce major shifts in the civic culture of communities to Norfolk as the next stop on his Healing & Hope Tour.
The evening will feature socializing and networking with heavy hors d'oeuvres followed by a community conversation.
The event will be held on the 6th floor the amazing Slover Library overlooking Norfolk's skyline. Parking is available in the City's Main Street Garage at 113 Atlantic Avenue.
Healing & Hope Tour: Florida Civic Advance (Virtual)
Rich Harwood will join Bob Jones for Florida Civic Advance’s Third Thursday Webinar series to explain what's really going on in America, and outline a practical, hopeful path forward. Cheri Coryea of the Patterson Foundation, our partner in Sarasota for the Civic Virus study, will contribute her take on the report from a local point of view. The webinar is targeted at Floridians, but is open to all. Click here to learn more and register.
Public Kinship Webinar
Rich Harwood will join Dr. Bobby Austin, President of Neighborhood Associates to discuss how to engage various communities to see what can be done to build community spirit in pursuit of a common enterprise to combat the divisiveness holding back progress. They will dialogue and invite the audience to join this crucial conversation, with an eye toward creating and strengthening solutions that work.
2022 Harwood Annual Summit
We started the Summit more than a decade ago because leaders said they needed a safe space where they could wrestle with tough and unique challenges without the need to perform. The Harwood Summit is a safe space for us to have an in-depth, serious and provocative conversation about what it will take for us to move our country and our communities forward. Our hope is that you’ll return home with a renewed sense of possibility and hope. Learn more about the Harwood Annual Summit here.
Healing & Hope Tour: Covington, KY
Hosted by the Grantmakers of Kentucky in partnership with Philanthropy Southeast, Rich Harwood is bringing the Healing & Hope message to the annual Grantmakers of Kentucky meeting to explore how philanthropy can help communities find their way to common ground, common goals and shared progress. Click here to learn more about the event including registration details.
Summer 2022 Unleashing Impact Virtual Public Innovators Lab
Build on what you know about the Turning Outward practice to deepen and accelerate your impact with our brand new Virtual Lab, Unleashing Impact. In weekly interactive and energizing sessions with Harwood approach creator Rich Harwood, you’ll go deeper on how to unleash a chain reaction for change, build allies to amplify impact, and strengthen the civic culture of your community. This Lab will help you discover new ways to think and act as a public innovator and spread the Harwood approach to create lasting impact. Register for Unleashing Impact or learn more about our Virtual Public Innovators Labs.
Healing & Hope Tour: Stamford, CT
Hosted by the City of Stamford and the Ferguson Public Library, Rich Harwood will Rich will speak about Civic Virus: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis, to help the Stamford community make sense of what’s going on in our nation and how to reimagine and recreate our communities. Stamford was one of 16 communities that participated in the research for the report, we are excited to bring this important conversation back to Stamford on Rich’s Healing & Hope Speaking Tour. This event is free and open to the public. Click here to register.
Healing & Hope Tour: Alamance County, NC
Hosted by Impact Alamance, Rich Harwood will keynote a community-wide event to kick off a multiyear partnership toward community-led transformation between The Harwood Institute and Impact Alamance. Part of Rich’s Healing & Hope Speaking Tour, this will be an inspiring conversation about how the Alamance community can unleash its potential given the challenges we face as a country. The event is free and open to the public.
Healing & Hope Tour: Making Education a Common Enterprise
Rich Harwood will bring the Healing & Hope message speaking as one of six impressive presenters at the “Restoration: Redirecting the Path Towards Positive Educational Outcomes Conference” hosted by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Committee’a School-to-Prison Pipeline and Restorative Education Committee on Tuesday 4/26 from 12-3 pm EST. The event is open to the public, no registration required! Learn more about Rich’s Healing & Hope Speaking Tour.
Healing & Hope Tour: Jackson, MS
Announcing Rich Harwood’s event in Jackson, MS, as part of his Healing & Hope Speaking. Rich will speak about about his groundbreaking new report, Civic Virus: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis, to help change agents in Jackson make sense of what’s going on in our nation and in their communities and how to create a hopeful path forward together. This event is hosted by the Community Foundation for Mississippi.
Clarksville-Moco: Stepping Into the Future Community Convening
The Harwood Institute, in partnership with Leadership Clarksville, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Clarksville, and Women Veterans of America, are hosting a community-wide event to discuss findings from their report, Clarksville-MoCo: Stepping Into the Future.
Over the past few months, in-depth interviews with community leaders and community conversations with residents were held across Clarksville-MoCo. In this report, you’ll hear the voices of Clarksville-MoCo, their shared aspirations for education and discover a path forward for the community.
Rich Harwood will be keynoting this event and will lead a dynamic conversation about the report findings and what they mean for the future of Clarksville-MoCo. This event is open to the public. More details and register here.
Healing & Hope Tour: Ripon College
We are excited to announce the first virtual event on Rich Harwood’s Healing & Hope Speaking Tour! Rich will talk with Professor Brian Smith of Ripon College about “Civic Virus: Why Polarization Is a Misdiagnosis.” Presented by the Center for Politics and the People and the psychology department at Ripon College. Watch the recording here.