Convening, Recruiting, and Connecting People Who Repair Local Economies
CategoriesUncategorizedGentlemen (and Ladies), Stop Your Engines. How can municipalities move beyond the title of ‘Smart City’ to being a ‘Genius Community’? Here in Austin, it could be something as simple as turning off the car engines. With the daily conversation revolving around mobility and affordability, I have been advocating for the solution that equitably addresses […]
CategoriesUncategorizedActivating Community Wealth – Educational Engagement Spaces In the perfected pattern of nature, the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. There is no obvious hint of the caterpillar’s destiny, it all becomes manifest from the imaginal cells deep within the body that activate the process in which a deconstructed Earth-bound body reforms, sprouts wings and becomes a delicate […]
CategoriesUncategorizedTransforming Waste to Wealth to Strengthen Communities One man’s trash is another man’s treasure One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor One man’s pain is another man’s pleasure And nothing’s for certain, mister, that’s for sure No, nothing’s for certain, mister, that’s for sure Song credits: ‘One Man’s Trash’ ©1988 by John McCutcheon. Published by […]
CategoriesUncategorizedSummarizing the Summit It was 10AM on a mid-April day and the members of Jessica Norwood’s brain trust, after months of anticipation, was finally assembled face-to-face around a 14th floor Manhattan conference room at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Almost everyone in the group had taken part in phone conversations with Jessica, Kevin Jones, and myself during […]
CategoriesUncategorizedCornerstones of Community Wealth Community Wealth is all the monetary and non-monetary capital (relationships, respect, trust, environmental, energy, knowledge, etc.) that create the basis of shared experiences leading to wisdom, empathy and community. It is these capital elements which transform a neighborhood from a collection of individual families sharing a ZIP code to a real community in […]
CategoriesUncategorizedRewriting the Community Story of Wealth I recently watched the movie The Hundred Foot Journey for the third time. It’s a charming story of cultural collisions, good food and community. In the movie, as expected, the brilliant chef Hassan leaves his family and the tiny village to pursue a higher level of success and acclaim, […]
CategoriesUncategorizedUnlocking Knowledge Capital to Build Community Today marks the 6th anniversary of my husband’s death. Keith Hogan was an extraordinary person in every way, from his incredibly positive attitude towards life to his genius way of problem solving. He was well known for his blue eyes and is well remembered for his infectious laugh. He […]
CategoriesUncategorizedThe subject of this week’s post was going to be the purpose and possibilities of a generative economy. However, I read this article and it felt like a great way to share a story about the power of transformative capital to create a more inclusive solution to an issue faced by every community: how to […]
CategoriesUncategorizedAssembling the Tool Kit: Ours to Own An unfortunate reality lies at the core of most economically challenged cities in the US– there is a desperate need for funding of infrastructure projects, yet governments and charities cannot meet the full financial need. Ours to Own, a crowdsourced investment initiative from the Calvert Foundation, arises out of […]
CategoriesUncategorizedFlipping the Script: From Affordability to Ability to Afford I live in Austin Texas where the two most common topics of conversation these days are affordable housing and manageable traffic. When I think about them I’m reminded of the “Your Home Sweet Home Is My Home” episode of the old “Dick Van Dyke Show” in […]