“What Rich Harwood has found challenges everything we think about polarization, politics, and civic engagement.” - Democratic Dilemma Podcast

OUR CAMPAIGN HAS AUDACIOUS GOALS

At our recent campaign event with William & Mary, an audience member asked Rich, “How do we start locally yet hold on to wanting audacious national change?”

Their question strikes at the heart of the new civic path, which seeks to connect local action to audacious national change by leaning into one of the Institute’s Key Mantras: “start small to go big.” Indeed, this campaign itself has the audacious goal of getting our country on a new civic path. Here are five things we’ve recently done in service of that larger goal.

⇨ Extending the campaign through 2026 because Americans yearn to get on a better path forward.

⇨ Screening our original short documentary film, Selma, Beacon of Hope, at a major film festival.

⇨ Launching a landmark partnership with William & Mary, the country’s second-oldest institution of higher learning.

⇨ Releasing new stories of change on Logan and Union Counties in Ohio and a ripple effect report on Alamance County, NC.

⇨ Catalyzing New Civic Path Book Circles in dozens of communities nationwide alongside hosting our upcoming National Book Circle on June 2.

We want you on this journey with us. We need each other. Let’s go together.

5 Simple Ways You Can Join Our Campaign

NEW CIVIC PATH BOOK CIRCLES SPREAD NATIONWIDE

Last year, hundreds of Floridians across the Suncoast region stepped forward to participate in The Patterson Foundation’s New Civic Path Book Circles. Little did they know those Book Circles would catalyze a growing chain reaction that is spreading nationwide.

Indeed, in just the past couple months, Book Circles have grown by leaps and bounds as community after community has stepped forward to hold their own local Book Circles—places as far-flung and unique as Sturgeon Bay, WI; Fort Collins, CO; and Monroeville, PA. That’s all in addition to a signature partnership we recently established with William & Mary, whose students, staff, and alumni are engaging in a series of Book Circles over the coming months.

You can do it too. Consider hosting a local Book Circle with family, friends, or colleagues using our simple kit. It’s a low-lift way to get in motion, build allies, and begin to restore belief in ourselves and one another. Regardless, we hope you’ll attend our national convening around The New Civic Path on June 2 at 12:30pm ET.

Register for Our National Convening

ALAMANCE CHOOSING HOPE OVER DIVISION

Our latest report, Alamance County’s Ripples of Change: Choosing Hope Over Division, is fresh off the presses. It follows two other community proof points from Logan and Union Counties that we released earlier this year.

In Alamance, one of the most divided places we’ve worked in nearly 40 years, the transformation is nothing short of remarkable. That’s because people there came together to choose hope over division and rebuild their civic culture.

Of course, Alamance’s story is important to the people who live there. But it’s just as important to a divided nation that wonders if it’s possible to move forward together. It is possible. Alamance offers us a roadmap because theirs is a story of everyday Americans from all walks of life getting on a new civic path—together.

Read Alamance County's Ripples of Change

THE DEMOCRATIC DILEMMA

Rich recently appeared on The Democratic Dilemma, a new podcast focused on equipping the next generation of community leaders with the mindset and know-how to create change and rebuild belief in their communities and this country.

Here’s how co-hosts Mary Noone and Josh Stanley described the episode: “What Rich Harwood has found challenges everything we think about polarization, politics, and civic engagement. Whether you’re a candidate, nonprofit leader, or community organizer, this conversation will challenge how you think about showing up, listening, and building change from the ground up.”

Listen to the podcast

THE HARWOOD SCHOOL UNLEASHES NEW WAVE OF CHANGE AGENTS

Our latest Getting Started Virtual Lab wraps up this week, with dozens of change agents across the country becoming official alumni of The Harwood School. At a time of societal turmoil, widespread divides, and a lack of hope, these Public Innovators are dedicated to turning outward, creating change, and restoring belief in their communities.

Shortly after this Lab concludes, we’ll be distributing our new Public Innovators badge to this fresh wave of alumni as a way to honor and celebrate their work in communities across this country. What’s more, these new Public Innovators have now officially joined our global network of thousands upon thousands of Public Innovators who every day seek to make community a common enterprise.

Want to join them? The Harwood School is for you. Explore our current offerings and stay tuned for when we announce the dates of a second Getting Started Virtual Lab later this calendar year.

Learn more about the Harwood School

UPCOMING EVENTS

The New Civic Path National Book Circle | June 2 @ 12:30 PM EST
America needs more agents of hope. America needs you. We’re holding a New Civic Path National Book Circle on June 2 at 12:30 pm ET to help you step forward and be an agent of hope in these divided times. Through small and large group discussion, we will explore how you can put the book’s principles into action to address our country’s deep challenges, reclaim our shared agency, and take real action together. Register now.