Gifts

Modern Mentoring

For decades, mentoring has been a respected and valued approach to assisting youth — usually those thought to be problematic. The typical nature of the activity is a relationship between a volunteer adult and a young person, most frequently a...

The Neighbor Project

Very rarely do people open a book, become inspired and put a plan into action, but this is exactly what one Kirkland man did after reading “The Abundant Community” by John McKnight and Peter Block. Rodney Rutherford said the message...

Meet Mary Nelson

Mary Nelson is on the faculty of the Northwestern University’s Asset Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) and consults, speaks and does workshops in the U.S. and internationally (South Africa, Australia, East Timor, Germany, Mexico). She is currently serving as interim Executive...

Growing Global Divisiveness Gets Disrupted

Ian Edwards is nervous about the world he’s leaving his 14-year-old son, particularly the divisiveness he sees happening at an increasingly disturbing rate with all kinds of people. “It seems much greater than when I was younger,” the Boulder, Colorado...

Love Letters to Strangers

In October 2010 Hannah Brencher had recently moved to New York City. She was feeilng lonely and depressed when her heart one day was touched by a sad-looking woman she saw on the subway. She started writing a letter to...

Three Steps to Building a Better Block

All you need to do to drive change in your community and move past stagnant committees and outdated regulation is to stop waiting around. Even if that means painting in your own crosswalks and blackmailing yourselves into action. In his...

The Stranger

A powerful neighborhood is hospitable; it welcomes strangers, people we don't know. John explains the fullness of what that means and how hospitality enriches our lives.     Home page image: Ramashng

The Neighborhood Effect

The character of a neighborhood—strongly expressed by how much people help and trust each other—may influence its collective health and economic survival even more than such obvious indicators as income levels and foreclosure rates, a long-term study suggests. Harvard sociologist...

A Gift from a Taxi Driver

Gerard’s story says more than all the speaking, action steps and theory some of us spend our time on. On the professional question, we all speak for the citizen, but every place needs someone like Gerard, paid to create...

Strengthening Government and Community through Genuine Partnerships

Local governments everywhere tend to think of their jurisdictions as places and people with needs. They seek to address these needs by relying on tax revenues and bureaucratic expertise. Such a top-down approach may be appropriate at times, but...

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Latest News

Corporate Capture: Can We Find a Way Out?

This article, published originally by Nonprofit Quarterly, from Nonprofit Quarterly Magazine’s summer 2024 issue, “Escaping Corporate Capture.” The aircraft manufacturer Boeing,...