What’s Working in the World*
Transforming People and Systems: Methods and Success Stories
Civic Development
- Pathways through Participation
http://pathwaysthroughparticipation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Pathways-literature-review-final-version.pdf/ A literature review of theory and practice over the full range of citizen involvement from volunteerism through political engagement. - Four Engagement Streams http://www.thataway.org/?page_id=1487/ This is a simple categorization of four modes of public engagement, developed by Sandy Heierbacher, namely: Exploration (dialogue), Conflict Transformation, (Public) Decision-Making, and Collaborative Problem Solving. The NCDD website, where this model is found, is an exceptionally comprehensive, well-organized and well-maintained source of information on public and group processes.
Urban Transformation
These organizations have flipped the script of failure and neglect for young African-Americans in many ways while encompassing whole neighborhoods and cities to bringing lasting and expanding change to the systems that were the sources of trouble and now are being sources of new and enduring solutions.
- Imagine Chicago in Chicago http://imaginechicago.org/index.html/ Chicago Starting in 1992, and remaining a small organization with many partners, Imagine Chicago bet on young people as its core staff and as a catalyst for expanding community imagination and hope, choosing and supporting disadvantaged teens to become its civic leaders. Working across generations, across well-established divides of race, income, culture and class, and in collaboration with local organizations, schools, faith communities, cultural institutions, businesses, and community groups, Imagine Chicago has designed and facilitated dozens of small and large scale creative partnerships in which people have worked together to understand, imagine and create the future they value. The disengaged or disaffected have found meaningful ways to contribute their gifts and constructive experiences of difference have nurtured in a new generation of leaders a passion for the common good. Remaining a small organization with many partners, it has served as a catalyst and connector for individuals and organizations, funded separately, and each developing capacity to continue the process of civic innovation, and now also in 70 cities, in 20 countries, across 6 continents. There are extensive program curriculum archives available from those projects on this website.
- Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City http://www.hcz.org/ The two fundamental principles of The Zone Project are to help kids in a sustained way, starting as early in their lives as possible, and to create a critical mass of adults around them who understand what it takes to help children succeed. It began as a one-block pilot in the 1990s, then following a 10-year business plan, it expanded to 24 blocks, then 60 blocks, then ultimately 97 blocks. The goal is to serve 15,000 children and 7,000 adults.
- House of Umoja in West Philadelphia http://www.houseofumoja.org/ In1968, to deal with the horrendous problem of gang warfare, then threatening to pull in one of her own six sons, Queen Mother Falaka Fattah and her husband, David Fattah invited her son’s gang to become a part of the family. Since then the House of Umoja has been home to over 3,000 teenage boys, offering safety and support, and now offering as well, on-site job training, employment. and entrepreneurial programs to residents and neighborhood youth and adults.
- Earth Conservation Corps in Southeast Washington, DC. http://www.ecc1.org/ Since 1992, the Earth Conservation Corps is saving youth and nature, where the heavily polluted Anacostia River flows through the nation’s capital. Restoring the river while providing workforce training, environmental education, and media arts, the mission of the Earth Conservation Corps is to “empower our endangered youth to reclaim the Anacostia River, their communities and their lives.”
*Notations are mostly lifted and shortened from program descriptions found on the sites themselves.