Category Archives: NCDD Events

CommunityMatters Call + $500 = Be There

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The next CommunityMatters conference call on Thursday, August 22nd will feature Ed McMahon, Senior Fellow at the Urban Land Institute, and his “Secrets of Successful Communities.”

CommunityMatters is encouraging anyone – individuals, local organizations or community groups – to organize “listening parties” for people to come together, listen and discuss how Ed’s call relates to their city or town. As a bonus, the Orton Family Foundation is offering four (4) $500 awards to groups that hold parties and decide to take action as a result.

Learn more at www.communitymatters.org/communitymatters-listening-parties.

CommunityMatters helps cities and towns steward change by fostering “civic infrastructure” – the systems and structures that give people the power and the tools to solve their community’s problems and shape its future.  NCDD is a CommunityMatters Partner, along with the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, Grassroots Grantmakers, New America Foundation, Orton Family Foundation, Project for Public Spaces, and Strong Towns.

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Join us on tomorrow’s NCDD Confab with Rich Harwood

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We’ve got 150 signed up for tomorrow’s confab call with Rich Harwood, but there are still some spots left if you haven’t registered yet! The call will take place tomorrow (Weds, August 7th) from 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern / 11-12:30 Pacific.

RichHarwoodOur confabs (interactive conference calls) are free and open to all NCDD members and potential members. Register here if you’d like to join us.

Rich Harwood is president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and author of numerous books including his latest, The Work of Hope. A leader in our field for more than two decades, Rich was invited to Newtown to help community leaders and the public decide what to do with Sandy Hook Elementary School, the site of last December’s mass shooting that shocked the nation and reignited debates over gun rights and mental health.

What happened, and what can Rich’s experience teach us about helping communities in crisis? Join us tomorrow to find out more, plus tell your own stories about working in distressed communities.

Registration open for Aug 7th Confab call with Rich Harwood

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We have a special guest lined up for our August confab call — Rich Harwood, president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation in Bethesda, Maryland. The call will take place on Wednesday, August 7th, from 2:00 to 3:30 Eastern (11-12:30 Pacific), and registration is now open!

RichHarwoodEarlier this year, Rich was asked to facilitate a series of meetings in Newtown, CT to help the grieving city decide what to do with Sandy Hook Elementary School, site of the horrific mass murder of children and school personnel last December. We’ve asked Rich to talk to NCDD members about his work in Newtown, and the broader work he and his colleagues are doing at the Harwood Institute for Public Engagement. (Read the amazing story here.)

He brought 25 years of experience to the task in Newtown. Through community conversations, constant innovation, and nationwide research, The Harwood Institute has developed an approach that’s helped cities, organizations, and individuals “Turn Outward” and build on public aspirations to get things done for the common good. Rich has worked in struggling communities such as Newark, Detroit, and Flint, Michigan and has created a group of “Beacon Communities” to develop a critical mass of public innovators. He’s partnered with influential organizations like United Way Worldwide, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the American Library Association in order to enhance their relevance and impact in the communities they serve.

His latest book, The Work of Hope, asserts that fixing our politics shouldn’t be our top priority. “The central task in our society is to restore belief in ourselves and one another that we can get things done, together.” It was that philosophy which guided Rich’s work in Newtown and brought about an emotional, yet harmonious, decision.

NCDDs’s “Confab calls” provide opportunities for members to connect with each other, hear about exciting projects in our field, and explore our most difficult challenges. And since many of you may be hosting and facilitating conversations on mental health as part of the White House’s initiative, we hope you’ll sign up and benefit from the conversation about Rich’s experiences in Newtown.

Register for the August 7th Confab today to reserve your spot!

Notes from NCDD’s Meetup at Tufts University

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Here’s a snapshot from today’s NCDD meetup at Tufts University in Medford, MA. We had a great time together before the Frontiers of Democracy conference began, with over 30 NCDD members joining us for at least part of the meetup.

NCDD Meetup at Tufts

During an initial round of introductions, everyone shared one strength or gift they brought to the table that other NCDD members could potentially tap into. Later, we broke up into small groups to dig into four topics attendees were feeling challenged by at the moment:

  • the continuing need to institutionalize or embed dialogue and deliberation work into the way we do business (i.e. building civic infrastructure)
  • the national dialogue on mental health project (both online and offline aspects of it)
  • reaching out to underrepresented groups
  • standardization of the terminology, procedures and metrics we use
  • sustaining ourselves as practitioners; handling overload and retaining optimism

It was an energizing afternoon, and most of us are staying on for the Frontiers of Democracy conference at Tufts and continuing to enjoy each other’s company!