May Newsletter: Two Major Partnerships; Celebrating a 1 Year Anniversary; Spreading Hope

May 27

“Rich lays out a case that the division we feel is real, but it’s not the whole story. Beneath the noise, there’s a deep and growing yearning for something better. The question is whether we’ll tap into it.” - Wilk Wilkinson, host of Derate the Hate podcast and Director of Media Systems at Braver Angels

TWO MAJOR PARTNERSHIPS AMID AMERICA’S 250TH

In just the past month, our campaign announced two major, ongoing partnerships amid the backdrop of America’s 250th anniversary. One with William & Mary amid their Year of Civic Learning, the other with Lincoln’s Cottage as part of their series “Empathy & Connection: A Vision for America at 250.”

Each partnership is iconic in its own way. William & Mary is the country’s second-oldest institution of higher learning and dedicated to equipping the next generation of civic leaders. Lincoln’s Cottage is a premier cultural institution dedicated to lifting up the brave ideas of all who take on Lincoln’s “unfinished work” in pursuit of a more perfect union.

Both partnerships are examples of our campaign’s intention to harness the unique opportunity presented by America’s 250th. We must examine who we seek to become as Americans and how we can make the next 250 years even better, for all of us, starting today. A series of events and engagements is planned with each organization through the rest of 2026, with the next being our kickoff event with Lincoln’s Cottage on June 4 at 6:30pm. If you live in the DC area, we’d love to have you join us. More details here.

5 Simple Ways You Can Join Our Campaign

THE NEW CIVIC PATH Turns 1!

The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation turns one year old next week. It had quite the journey in its first year.

The book immediately hit the Amazon bestseller list and Rich and our campaign hit the road, crisscrossing the country to hold dozens of events framed around the book’s message from Northern California to Selma, AL, to Stamford, CT. Book Circles around The New Civic Path popped up in local communities all across the country. And the book was named a finalist for the internationally-distinguished Eric Hoffer Book Award.

We’re doing two big things to celebrate the book’s first anniversary:

One, Rich added a new preface to the book, with the new edition now available wherever books are sold. He did so because of the profound changes unfolding around us and the growing urgency that exists for more of us to get on this new civic path.
Two, we’re hosting a New Civic Path National Book Circle on June 2 at 12:30pm ET to galvanize citizens and communities nationwide as they seek to get on this new civic path. You don’t have to read the book in advance. Just come ready to engage in how we might seize the opportunity before us to move forward in a more hopeful way.

NEW COMMUNITY INITIATIVE LAUNCHES IN NORTH RIVER MANATEE COUNTY

North River Manatee County is experiencing explosive growth. Tucked between two major metropolitan areas—Sarasota and Bradenton to the south and St. Petersburg and Tampa to the north—it’s a highly-sought-after community. But people’s concerns are rising amid its rapid change and the community faces a choice: Further fragment amid the pressures of growth and change or come together to shape a shared future.

We recently partnered with Bishop-Parker Foundation and The Patterson Foundation to release our latest report, Growing Together in North River Manatee County: Shaping a Shared Future, during a community gathering of more than 150 residents and community leaders. The report’s release is just the first step in a multi-year community initiative in North River Manatee County that seeks to unleash chain reactions of change on issues that matter to people.

Our country desperately needs more examples of communities coming together to forge a common future. North River Manatee County has what it takes to be another proof point by building on the good that already exists in the community.

Read Growing Together in North River Manatee County

OWENSBORO PUBLIC INNOVATORS ACCELERATING PROGRESS

Our community initiative in Owensboro, KY, just held its final workspace as we enter the remaining months of the action phase there. The workspace was a chance to convene the sprawling network of scores of Public Innovators across the Greater Owensboro area and take stock of how far the teams have come in just eighteen months.

What began as a handful of community conversations has grown into multiple chain reactions of change in areas like the arts, health, housing and homelessness, and youth. A promising sense of momentum is building as the people of Owensboro continue to turn outward and ground their action in what matters to people. Near the end of the workspace, we asked Owensboro Public Innovators what they felt they'd created during the initiative. Responses flowed quickly. “Momentum for change.” “Vitality.” “Unity.” “A community that listens to each other.” “A future.”

Following in the footsteps of other recent community initiatives like Reading, PA; Alamance County, NC; and our work in two Ohio counties; Owensboro is yet another community proving what’s possible when enough Americans make the choice to turn outward, come together, and get on a new civic path.

HELP US SPREAD HOPE AS AN EVANGELIST

Our recent Getting Started Virtual Lab just certified a new class of Harwood Public Innovators. They join the thousands upon thousands of Public Innovators who are already at the vanguard of creating change in all 50 states and 40 countries worldwide. Indeed, our Public Innovators are special. But not merely because of the time-tested practices they learned through the Harwood School. They are special because of their dedication to their local communities and willingness to keep stepping forward even when times are tough.

Today, our country needs more Public Innovators to step forward in order to catalyze change and spread hope. As a valued member of our network, you know better than anyone the value of the Turning Outward approach. Now, we need your help identifying the next wave of Public Innovators who can attend our Getting Started Virtual Lab this fall and be equipped with the Turning Outward approach. It’s a small way you can help society move forward in a more hopeful way.

Be an evangelist by filling out this simple referral form and we’ll take it from there. You can even refer yourself to let us know you’re interested in the fall Lab.

Refer a Future Public Innovator

REFLECTION FROM THE STUDIO ON COMMUNITY

Harwood’s Studio on Community is our hub for innovation. For the past year, we were honored to have Lucas Powers, an undergraduate at American University, serve as a Studio Associate. Lucas reflected on what he learned during his time at the Institute and how our work sparked a renewed sense of optimism and “a realization that people across the country are yearning for something better than the empty promises that have been systematically offered to them for decades.”

Read Lucas' Full Reflection

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.