Restoring our belief in one another doesn’t require grand plans or deep pockets.

Discover how lean funders can nurture the fundamental conditions for any systems-change effort, no matter the specific issue or goal - by helping to build the civic culture of their community. By civic culture, we mean the ability of people in a community to come together, agree on a goal that is important to them, and get things done together. Our guest is Rich Harwood, founder of the Harwood Institute, a 40-year old organization that equips people, organizations, and communities with the tools to bridge divides, build capacity, and tackle shared challenges. By playing roles of listening, coaching, and teambuilding over time, the Harwood Institute, often in partnership with lean foundations, helps people find new ways to talk with each other, create different relationships, different norms, and new ways of working together. 

Since 2001, our nation has lived through a series of seemingly endless wars and a global pandemic. The internet has overwhelmed many of our senses, and AI now threatens to replace basic human interactions. People have lost faith in our leaders, institutions, news media, even in each other. I believe we face a crisis of belief.

Live in The Big Middle With ‘The New Civic Path’ author Richard C. Harwood

Rich Harwood will discuss what Reading’s experience can teach other communities about moving beyond dialogue and taking action on issues that affect people’s daily lives. He’ll also talk about his newest book, The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation, and the “Civic Faith” and “Turning Outward” approaches he has developed through decades of work across all 50 states and 40 countries.

Now is not the time to surrender to a politics that further destroys hope and will indeed lead us off the cliff. People’s yearning for a different political culture in this country grows by the day. We cannot let politicians and their consultants take our politics hostage. Americans want something better.

Abraham Lincoln believed in the promise of America and in the need to engage relentlessly in the work of building a more perfect Union. In July, our own Rebecca Kilborne sat down with bestselling author Rich Harwood to discuss his recent book, The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation. 

The report includes the main themes that emerged from conversations and interviews; voices of the people from Rockingham County; a snapshot and analysis of the fundamental structures, networks, and norms of Rockingham County through the lens of The Harwood Institute’s Public Capital Framework; and key recommendations for investing in and growing the community’s civic capacities and renewing a sense of possibility and hope.

“The biggest challenge we face in America today is how do we restore a sense of belief that we can get things done together — not as Democrats or Republicans or Independents — but as Americans? It’s the central question we face in society.”

A new report on the future of Rockingham County offers valuable insights into how the community wants to shape its future.

Why do good people remain silent when they see problems that need to be addressed? The problem schools face is not always that there is too much conflict. Sometimes the greater problem is too little: people hold back concerns, avoid questioning decisions, remain quiet about problems that everyone can see, or simply disengage.

For me, I think about what “patriotism”—and being a patriot—means. It isn’t about holding a blind allegiance to the country, wrapping ourselves in the flag, and using it as a weapon to denigrate, diminish, or even decimate those who look different from us or hold different views. I flatly reject such patriotism. I believe we all must.

In a recent Beyond The Blog podcast, Debra Jacobs, President and CEO of The Patterson Foundation, speaks with Rich Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, a nonprofit advancing positive community action by inspiring people and communities to turn outward. 

What does it take to heal a divided town? Less talking, says Rich Harwood. After almost 40 years running the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, he's watched the poorest community in America and some of the most divided places in the country do what most of us have stopped believing is possible: build something together, across every line that's supposed to keep them apart. The conversation runs from Moses and Lincoln to a synagogue firebombing to the three working men who saved his life as a sick kid, and lands on a deceptively simple idea about what we owe one another.

Rich Harwood shares how his childhood experience with cystic fibrosis and a profound sense of being unseen shaped his life’s work around dignity, compassion, resilience, and strengthening communities. He reflects on the mentors and experiences that taught him the transformative power of truly seeing and hearing others.

Of course, politics is important. But a hyper focus on each “next election” can cause us to miss a deeper issue that is at the root of what holds the country back. We suffer from a pervasive and crippling crisis of belief—in our leaders, institutions, systems, even one another.

As we mark Juneteenth this year, our country is under enormous strain as we are confronted by a series of deeply human questions. Will we see and hear one another? Will we afford one another dignity regardless of race, income, geography, or what God we pray to? Will we work to create an inclusive America when we are being pulled apart?

Our country and our politics are at an impasse. Just consider our past four presidents: Obama, Trump, Biden, and back to Trump. The country keeps swinging from one end of the political spectrum to the other with no clear, sustained direction.

Which begs the question: what’s the breakthrough we need to get us out of this impasse and moving in a more hopeful way—together?

In this episode of Aspirations to Actions, a Beyond The Blog podcast, host Alicia Chalmers talks with Michael Prihoda, Director of Media and Creative Content, and Menal Khanna, National Campaign Manager at The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. Together, they explore The Harwood Institute’s powerful approach to community‑driven change and why you should join the upcoming National New Civic Path Virtual Book Circle on June 2.

In this episode of the Democratic Dilemma, Rich joins Mary Noone and Josh Stanley to break down why the American contract is broken, why throwing money at problems doesn't work, and what actually rebuilds trust and belief in communities. He shares the real story of how Reading, PA, once declared the poorest city in America, came together across dividing lines to transform education, youth programs, and civic culture without spending an extra dime.