A special note from Rich
Harwood:
"If you recently received an e-mail from me
inviting you to join us
at the Innovators Lab, welcome to our Web site,
and thank you for your
interest. I hope that you're able to join us
for what I believe will be
a transformative experience for
you."
The Harwood Public Innovators Lab
- What is the
Public Innovators Lab?
- What are public
innovators?
- Quiz: Am I a
public innovator?
- What happens
at the lab?
- What will I get
out of it?
- How will I
keep track of what I learn?
- Should I
come?
- How will I
maintain my momentum once I go home?
- How much is
it?
- Dates, location, and how to register
Tired of business as
usual in your community?
Want to help create real, lasting
change?
Then join us for the Harwood Public Innovators
Lab. The Lab is an
intensive, four day experience that will help
you create new pathways
to accelerate change and engender authentic
hope in your communities –
finding ways to get past the negative
conditions in public life that
stand in the way of progress. During the Lab
you will examine how you
can see, think about, and engage in your work
from three important
perspectives – how you engage communities;
how you think about your
organization’s role in change; and what you
need to do as an individual
to be effective and stay true to your own
values. "The Harwood Institute provides a new framework for building civic life, moving us from a problem framework to one that embraces hope/aspiration in achieving solutions to critical public concerns. The focus was creating a discipline for change that creates the nexus between thinking and doing.
People come to see themselves as critical actors in shaping the future of civic life and choices about critical public concerns of our times (quality of life, culture of common good, supporting children and families, environmental sustainability, respect and human dignity, new collaborative leadership paradigm)”
Daniella Levine
Co-chair, Imagine Miami
What are public innovators?
Many people do good work across the country in public life and politics, and yet there are a small percentage of people who stand out because of the meaningful change they are able to generate. More prevalent than social entrepreneurs and less heralded, these engines for the public good are one of the great untapped resources in our nation.At The Harwood Institute, we call these people public innovators.
Public innovators are pragmatic idealists – they hold a deep understanding of the reality of their community and at the same time incessantly tap their imagination to see a path for a brighter future. Public innovators are dogged in their determination to make progress; and they are risk-takers, when necessary. They have learned to innovate from within whatever structure they operate.
We have found that public innovators hold no specific title, and there is no single mailing list or Web site to find them. Instead, public innovators can be found in a range of public, private and nonprofit organizations in a variety of roles.
In a highly divisive, fragmented and even cynical society, public innovators believe in the possibilities for change in public life and politics and in the ability of people to tap their own potential to make a difference and join together to forge a common future.
Quiz: Am I a public innovator?
- Do
you find yourself guided by a set of deeply
rooted aspirations and
ideals? Do you work tirelessly in your
professional and personal life
to make these ideals a reality?
- But are you also deeply pragmatic? Do
you find that you’re
just as interested in seeing results as you are
in articulating your
ideals?
- Do you have experience taking risks;
and do you appreciate the possible downsides
from taking such risks?
- Do you find that what you say and do
is rooted in a deep understanding of the
community or region where you do your
work?
- Do the people you serve regard you as an authentic leader?
What happens at the lab?
You will spend four days with colleagues from around the country immersed in learning about and applying the sensibilities and practices that have helped hundreds of public leaders connect with their community and affect change and engender authentic hope. And you will learn what it takes to re-orient yourself in public life, discover new frameworks for working on current challenges, and network with a growing body of public innovators like yourself.Here is a schedule of what you'll do at the Lab.
Sunday Evening
Session 1: Reflection Discussion on Richard Harwood's new book Hope Unraveled: The People's Retreat and Our Way Back
Discuss the conditions you’re seeking to change in community and public life
Monday
Session 2: Identifying Aspirations
Articulate what is means to act on your aspirations in public life and identify the necessary steps to create more productive conditions for making progress
Session 3: The 3 A's of Public Life
Examine the importance of the 3 A's of Public Life –Authority, Authenticity, and Accountability – and discover their relationship to creating change and authentic hope
Session 4: Public Capital
Learn about the Public Capital Framework and understand the key factors that make communities work and enable them to change
Tuesday
Session 5: Understanding Community Rhythms
Understand the five stages of community life, the strategic implications for moving communities forward, and apply the stages to your community
Session 6: Taking Effective Civic Action
Find the “sweet spot” of civic action by learning how to align your programs and actions so that they address community concerns and build community at the same time
Session 7: Reflection Discussion: Being a Public Innovator
Engage in a discussion about the personal challenges and opportunities that confront you in being a public innovator
Wednesday
Session 8: Harnessing Civic Engagement
Make your civic engagement efforts vibrant and robust by learning about and applying the 5 Principles of Authentic Engagement
Session 9: Taking the Ideas, Frameworks and Tools Home
Identify how you will take home and apply and spread what you learned at the Lab
Thursday
Session 10: Commitment to Public Life
Create a personal covenant about how you can strengthen your own role as a public innovator and create change and authentic hope
“The folks from The Harwood Institute do not offer techniques. Instead, they present people with concrete tools in a framework regarding public life. As a result, their students are able to integrate the training into their lives and work, and are prepared to address new community issues as they arise.”
Chad Wick
President & CEO
KnowledgeWorks Foundation
What will I get out of it?
The core modules of the Harwood Public Innovators Lab are designed to help you as a public innovator act even more effectively in your community, organization, and as an individual leader. We will focus on what it means to be ruthlessly strategic in what you do and how you can create authentic hope.You will come away with:
- A working understanding of key Harwood
Institute frameworks
that will enable you to identify strategies for
creating change and
authentic hope in communities and public life
- Knowledge on how to align your
personal and organizational
work to the context of your community, which
will help you save time
and money and help you achieve success for the
long term
- A coherent theory of how change occurs
in communities and
public life, which will help you set change
strategies that will work,
manage expectations, and engender authentic
hope
- A proven approach to tackling negative
conditions – and not
just the superficial symptoms – that slow
progress on public
challenges, which will help you undertake and
make meaningful change
- A renewed connection to your own
personal aspirations and
commitment to your work, which will give you a
clearer and deepened
sense of purpose
- New friends and colleagues who share
your aspirations for
public life, which will give you access to a
growing national network
of public innovators
- A deeper sense of possibility and hope, which will help propel you and others forward
“I have come to believe that all persons who wish to make a difference in society must have public leadership skills. Rich Harwood has developed an exceptional foundation training program which I highly commend to all of us in public leadership positions.”
Dr. Jack Dale
Superintendent
Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax, Virginia
How will I keep track of what I learn?
Great question! Over the years we’ve designed and really honed what we call the Personal Learning Journal. You will receive your own copy when you attend the Public Innovators Lab. It contains each of the frameworks we use in the Lab as well as lots of room for you to take notes and draw connections to your own work. You’ll be able to take the Personal Learning Journal home as a personal resource to tap as you engage in your own work.Should I come?
Senior staff from organizations doing public work – such as foundation staff, community-based nonprofit leaders, national nonprofit organizational leaders, and public agency practitioners – will benefit the most from the content and interaction during the Lab.
How will I maintain my momentum once I go home?
There are a number of ways we will help you take advantage of what you learn at the Public Innovators Lab:- You will have your Personal
Learning Journal (see above)
- We will hold periodic teleconferences,
webcasts, and other
easy-to-access events to reinforce key ideas,
frameworks, and tools
that you learned at the Lab or which we think
might be helpful
- We will help you stay connected with
other public innovators
who attended your Lab, as well as connect you
with other public
innovators in the Harwood network
- You will receive our The Harwood Public Innovator, our weekly e-letter on news about issues and ideas relevant to public innovators
How much is it?
The cost of participating in the Lab is $995, which includes registration fees, breakfast, lunches and dinner Tuesday night, and all of your Lab materials. Transportation, lodging, and some meals are separate. This is a small price to pay to gain access to intellectual capital that literally cost tens of millions of dollars to develop, funded by some of the nation’s largest and most prestigious foundations. The insight you gain from this experience can potentially save you far more than your investment by helping you build programs for long-term success instead of those that often fade away after one or two years.In some cases, discounts up to 10 percent can be arranged with membership organizations willing to actively promote the Lab. Please contact Cindy Page at (301) 656-3669 or cpage@theharwoodinstitute.org if you are interested in participating in the discount program.
Dates, location, and how to register
Location: Pier 5 Hotel, Baltimore, MD2007 Dates: Feb. 11-15
Register Now at Regonline.com
