One of the primary projects at Civity over the past year has been developing Do-It-Yourself pages on our website. And we are thrilled to announce that DIYcivity is now up …
Author Archives: Palma Joy Strand
A Path Out of Polarization: The Strengthening Democracy Challenge and the Civity Storytelling Intervention
This article originally appeared on the listserv Beyond Intractability on June 12, 2023. Political polarization seems to be everywhere – in Washington DC, at statehouses around the nation, and in …
Democracy’s Civity Foundation
I live in an old house – more than 100 years old. The other day I was down in my basement with a plumber looking at replacing some cast iron …
Head to Heart
Some years ago, a common bumper sticker offered this advice: “Think Globally. Act Locally.” Never has this advice been more salient. Climate change is global, yet its effects are experienced …
The ‘Conversation Before the Conversation’
We live in a world of urgent and potentially existential challenges. There is a crisis-level lack of housing. Democracy is under siege. The effects of climate change are upon us. …
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The Power of ‘Power-With’
Civity is all about relationships – creating and strengthening bridging relationships that connect people who are different. These relationships form the relational infrastructure that underlies the civic infrastructure. Together, relational …
Belonging Is
Who knew that President Lyndon Johnson was a champion of civity!?!? During much of the pandemic I’ve been living in Arlington, Virginia. Early of a summer morning, before the heat …
The Push of Antiracism & the Pull of Civity
Beverly Daniel Tatum, psychologist and author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, provides a metaphor for racism that captures the feeling of being part …
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“It’s All About Relationships” – Civity, Systems, and Philanthropy
Civity has, from the beginning, taken a systems approach to social change. In complex adaptive social systems – such as our communities, our nation, and our world – it is the interactions of the people within them – our relationships – that create the system’s energy and character. The challenges and injustices that we see and experience are created by us – all of us.
A Civity Foundation for A House Divided
Dear Friends- As we look ahead – coming off of the challenges of 2020 and the turbulent beginning to 2021 – Civity’s vision and Civity’s work are more vital than …