The Herald Bulletin -
June 9, 2007
Our opportunity to lead
By Nancy Taylor
lass
will be the primary issue of the 21st century,” states Joel Kotkin, senior
fellow at the New American Foundation. Kotkin, an internationally-recognized
authority on global, economic, political and social trends, was the closing
speaker for the United Way staff leaders conference in Pittsburgh last
month.
Speaking in what was recently hailed as the country’s “most livable
city,” Kotkin discussed his research on the future of American cities and
suburban development. His message to United Ways: We should be in the
business of creating the middle class.
How? By building community through social networks.
This is not a new message to the United Way system. In 2000, we heard the
message from Robert Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone,” which discusses the
collapse of established social network systems and calls us to action to
build new systems for the 21st century. Weaving in and out of all of this
dialogue is a message for mid-size communities like ours: We can be the
leaders.
United Way of America recognizes it in a new white paper on accelerating
impact (building systems to create lasting change in conditions that improve
lives) in mid market United Ways: In most cases, these United Ways serve
communities which are small enough to have manageable systems (governmental,
schools, social services, etc.). Similarly, these United Ways are often well
respected leadership organizations within these communities, participating
in conversations that are not possible or are difficult in major markets due
to the number of players at the table and the relative position United Ways
play in some communities.
The paper further states that, while United Ways our size are by no means
resource rich, we generally have enough resources — including human,
intellectual and, to a lesser degree, financial — to take on impact work in
a meaningful way. Our own community is mentioned in this paper because the
No Room for Domestic Violence project has been highlighted on a national
level for its system-wide approach that involves non profits, government and
business. The paper ultimately recommends greater assistance from the top
for United Ways our size that could include grant opportunities, more
national attention, educational opportunities, technical and other
assistance.
Again, Indiana was specifically highlighted in this work for its
4Community grant opportunities across the state, giving organizations that
otherwise would not have experimented with impact work the chance to address
community issues beyond the scope of their experience. One area of great
need is the ability to measure the progress of our work. Coincidentally, I
spent some time this week in an interview with a doctoral candidate from the
IU School of Philanthropy who is writing a thesis on this very topic. He has
been interviewing nonprofit service providers, funding organizations and
evaluators in Indiana and Georgia. Why did he make a trip to Anderson? While
our United Way is a long way from being able to provide the level of
evaluation and measurement that we need, he recognized that we are far ahead
of most organizations in our efforts.
In so many ways, Anderson and Madison County define middle America. We
have a history of being a showcase of what is best about our country. The
booming economy built our middle-class heritage, but the strength of our
community connections will carry us through economic change. Today, we are
on the cusp of a new era and we are well-positioned to lead through a
dedicated and caring social network.
Kotkin’s charge to invest in the community so that it comes back to the
community through education that includes skills and trades, and
infrastructure that includes schools and neighborhoods is aligned with our
mission in Madison County to help all of our citizens achieve and sustain
self-sufficiency. We can lead the way.
Nancy Taylor is president of United Way of Madison
County Inc.
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