Critiques and solutions offered by social changemakers from all walks of life The United States is living through a period of polarization and upheaval. We hunger for answers, yet too often turn to the same people and institutions, somehow expecting different outcomes. How can this be? This book takes a different angle. It features award-winning social innovators from all walks of life with decades of experience of working in and with their communities across America. In twenty two deep, idea-packed conversations, they share their analysis, practical insights, and policy recommendations-on how to gain common ground, get the country unstuck, and increase prosperity and wellbeing for all. What their narratives have in common: they see community members -- workers, young people, parents, neighbors, from Appalachia to Silicon Valley, from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes - not as weak or dependent, but as creative, resourceful, and strong, with unique expertise and lived experience of the problem at hand, whose changemaking energy can be tapped to build a better future for all of us.
Konstanze Frischen is a member of the global leadership group of Ashoka, an NGO which invests in transformative ideas, including Ashoka fellowships. Frischen is a social anthropologist by background and has co-led Ashoka's emergence and growth in Western Europe. She has been a writer for CNN and a writer/editor for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as well as a board member for GLS Bank, Germany's leading ethical financial institution. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics.
ForewordFrank McCourt IntroductionKonstanze Frischen and Michael Zakaras 1. The Power of Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground UpSara Horowitz 2. Jobs You Write Songs About: Ocean Farming and Overcoming the Class Divide in the Environmental Movement Bren Smith 3. When Black Women Walk, Things Change: The Radical Response of Self-care and JoyT. Morgan Dixon 4. You're Welcome: Making Immigration Work for AllDavid Lubell 5. We See What We Look For: Race and the Power of Asset-FramingTrabian Shorters 6. Let's Start Where We Agree: Gun OwnershipCasey Woods 7. Momentum Now: The Path to Indigenous Self-determinationNick Tilsen 8. Poor People Do Not Need Charity: The Resourcefulness of Communities EverywhereMauricio Lim Miller 9. Beyond Coal: Rebuilding the Appalachian EconomyBrandon Dennison 10. The Power of Corn, Beans, and Squash: A Culture of Health on Indian LandDenisa Livingston 11. Defending Each Other: The Ability of Ordinary People to Help End Mass IncarcerationRaj Jayadev 12. A Road to Repair: Violence, Accountability, and a Common JusticeDanielle Sered 13. The Goal Is Liberation: Public Education for Undocumented Young PeopleLaura Emiko Soltis 14. You Are Being Watched: Defending Privacy in the Digital AgeAlbert Fox Cahn 15. It's My Life: Young People Redesigning Child WelfareSixto Cancel 16. A New Social Fabric: Supporting Young People, No Matter WhatSarah Hemminger 17. It Takes a Village: Black Parents Protecting Black GeniusWill Jackson 18. We Belong Here: The Privilege of Feeling Safe in the OutdoorsAngelou Ezeilo 19. Building Community Wealth: Black-Owned Businesses in the Mississippi DeltaTim Lampkin 20. Toward an Ownership Economy: Keeping Jobs Local and Employees in ChargeAlison Lingane 21. Getting to Zero: Communities Solving HomelessnessRosanne Haggerty 22. Democracy Reborn: A New Culture of CitizenshipEric Liu Reflection In Practice: Some Recommendations Acknowledgments About the Editors and Contributors About Ashoka
