Decades of drive toward a single bottom line seems to have caused a violent swing in the other direction, one that sought swift correction to complex social and environmental problems created by runaway capitalism. In their article “Runaway Capitalism” published in Harvard Business Review in 2012, Christopher Meyer and Julia Kirby note, “Certainly we humans have the […]
What is Broken and How Would I Fix It?
What if what’s broken is us? We the people became fragmented, narrow-minded and comfortable in our separate worlds, watching as we waited for someone else to save us. “It” covers a lot of ground—infrastructure, water shortages, preventable chronic health issues, disappearing middle class, predatory legal and financial systems, entitlement mentality, cranky and childish political culture… […]
A Marine veteran asks, ‘Isn’t it time to say Good Morning America to each other again?’
One of the often unspoken rewards of being a Marine Corps veteran of World War II is to strive to help ensure that the ultimate sacrifices made by all of those who have served our nation were not made in vain. At the same time, one of my great sorrows is realizing how far […]
The Soul of Our Nation
Seventeen years ago, the CA Superintendent of Public Schools, Delaine Easton warned that “we are fighting for the soul of our nation.” The integrity of our republic, the rule of law and our democratic institutions will break down if we don’t re-establish the core American values and ideals that were given to us by the […]
Beating Poverty
Asset-Based Approach We are focused on using a strengths-based, asset-oriented approach to people and issues. We believe that positive change occurs when we appreciate, value and invest in what is best in our people and community. The word “poverty” is defined as the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means […]
An Insight on “Commitment to Outcomes” – Scott Rhodes
Commitment to Outcomes We are willing to take responsibility for tasks and achieving specified outcomes. We are committed to staying involved until the tasks are completed. After nearly a year in the making, the Fresno Community Scorecard, with over 150 indicators, is being prepared for formal community launch. If we are to commit to following […]
Why the Community Values?
Over a dozen years ago in assessing where we were as a community it appeared that despite a lot of well-meaning effort the problems that had plagued Fresno for decades were not getting better, if anything they were getting worse. There was agreement that lots of efforts were underway but they operated too often in […]