A New Civic Covenant: Jackson Ready to Step Forward (2019)

About: A community report prepared by The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation for the Community Foundation for Mississippi.

Author: Richard C. Harwood 

Publish Date: 2019

Description: In the summer of 2019, The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, in partnership with the Community Foundation for Mississippi, interviewed 25 community leaders to learn about their aspirations and concerns for the city, and then convened these leaders for a daylong meeting at The Two Museums. The goals of the meeting were to:

• Discuss critical issues that need to be addressed by the community to reach people’s shared aspirations—including race, equity, and inclusion

• Identify current underlying conditions that shape Jackson, including the community’s norms, narrative and obstacles, along with existing assets to build upon

• Name signs of progress that will give people in the community a sense of possibility and hope that any new effort is producing real and promising results

• Generate principles for moving forward together

This report details the outcomes of our interviews and the convening and provides a roadmap for next steps. The only way to make progress is to move forward with greater common purpose guided and shaped by a new civic covenant. Only the people of Jackson can forge this path forward together.