By Joyce Lee-Ibarra Who do you consider the most vulnerable members of society? For many of us, the young and the elderly spring to mind. In the context of volunteerism, youth and seniors are often thought of as the recipients, rather than the providers, of volunteer services. At-risk children, for instance, fill a common narrative … Read more
With the holiday season in full swing and the end of 2014 soon approaching, gratitude and generosity fills the air. People are making time to help others, and reflect on how others have helped them the past year. What if instead of focusing on the values of gratitude and generosity once a year, individuals focused … Read more
“Sometimes it feels like CPR. No one person can do it alone. You can do chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth for only so long, and then you need someone else to take over. In the meantime, you need to be able to call on someone to get the defibrillator, and someone else to call 911.” I … Read more
What roles, structures and functions are the backbone of support for online communities that are thriving – where people feel safe to explore and learn together, and to just be themselves with one another? In our first meeting on this topic, we described what “thriving” would look like in online communities. And in our second … Read more
We hear a lot these days about “engaging the community,” whether that community is online or in our real life neighborhood. Often “engagement” is seen as a form of marketing – yet another way to get others to do what we want them to do. That is not what this post is about. This post … Read more
What is the secret sauce that allow disparate individuals to gracefully become a true learning and growing community? Join us in this continuing exploration right here at this blog post, on Thursday, August 22 at 9am PT / 12 noon ET (North America). In this meeting, we will move from the theoretical to the practical … Read more
A common theme in so many conversations these days is the power of people with a common purpose, regularly gathering to learn from and support each other. Most of us have seen both sides of this coin – groups that flourish and thrive and nurture and grow, and groups that languish and eventually die. What, … Read more
What would it make possible if every community around the world had infrastructure dedicated to ensuring the best possible quality of life for everyone? That question has been on our minds a lot lately, as we have thought about what it will take to accomplish Creating the Future’s mission in the 10 years we have … Read more
What would it make possible (and for whom?) if consultants and coaches to community benefit groups were able to gather together to discuss their craft and its impact on both their clients and their communities? What conditions would set the stage for that vision to be reality? And what could make Creating the Future’s existing … Read more
What would it make possible (and for whom?) if consultants and coaches to community benefit groups were able to gather together to discuss their craft and its impact on both their clients and their communities? Those are the questions that opened Creating the Future’s first meeting of its Consultant Community R&D team. The following are … Read more