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The Harwood Institute

This week, our nation celebrates the important work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – work which continues to this day. Almost 43 years after his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered in our nation’s capital in August 1963, there still exists a breach in society that must be repaired, to ensure that every child receives a good education; that people can live in safe neighborhoods and in strong communities; that we can find ways to improve race relations and rid ourselves of prejudice; that people have good health care and an adequate roof overhead.

Despite what seems like a long road ahead to build the kind of society we all seek, the work of Dr. King and others like him is essential to moving our communities and nation forward. Here are some important lessons about creating change that we can take away from the life’s work of one of our nation’s greatest leaders.

How are we going to marshal the collective will necessary to tackle the complex public issues facing our society and achieve the dream of Dr. King when so many people have retreated into their close-knit circles of family and friends?

That is the question Rich addressed across the country last fall as part of his tour to share the message of his latest book, Hope Unraveled: The People's Retreat and Our Way Back.

The tour officially wrapped up in December, but because of the overwhelming support from people across the country who are tired of business as usual and are yearning to find the path back into public life, the tour has been expanded to include several important locations this spring.

Right now, hundreds of change agents across the country are taking The Harwood Institute's tools and frameworks and putting them to use in their own daily work. If you are interested in learning how to accelerate your own work and want insight into more than 20 years of knowledge on community change, funded by some of the nation's most respected foundations and organizations, then consider joining us for the Harwood Public Innovators Lab.

One past attendee said that, upon leaving the Lab, "I felt as if blinders were removed from my 'community eyes' and that I had to rethink my entire approach to improving community life ... I truly believe that there is no public or private organization that deals with community life that could not benefit from what Rich Harwood and others from his organization shared with us and challenged us to consider."

This four-day experience will take place twice this year; the first is set for May 21-25 at the Pier 5 Hotel in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.