Feed on
Posts
Comments

Archive for the 'Phil DeVol' Category

two-ways-we-look-at-resources

Ruby Payne defines poverty as the extent to which we do without resources. The beauty of that definition is that it gives us (individuals and communities) something positive to do to get out of poverty or to help others out of poverty—that is, to build resources.
But that is not how resources are talked about in [...]

Read Full Post »

two-kinds-of-aha-moments

People who attend Bridges and Getting Ahead workshops will often tell our trainers and facilitators that they had an aha! moment. (Thus, the name of the company.) Looking back over my years of presenting, it occurs to me that there are at least two kinds of aha! moments.
One of these I call a “National Geographic” [...]

Read Full Post »

response-operating-from-a-position-of-inclusion-and-respect

Martin Miller recently asked an interesting question on a previous blog post of mine  – I’d like to take the time to respond to it below.  Martin asks:
Thank you, Phil, for sharing this perspective.  I struggle personally with the “tyranny” of the mind and thought process and would appreciate more information on this topic.  Why [...]

Read Full Post »

bridges-team-in-dubuque-iowa-does-great-work

To see what the Bridges team in Dubuque, Iowa is doing, read the premier edition of their newsletter, available here.
Those of you who attended the Bridges and Circles Conference in Florence, Kentucky in October probably remember the team from Dubuque. They were not—and are not—shy. I had the pleasure of visiting them in mid-November.
One of [...]

Read Full Post »

a-rant-free-zone-community-conversations-that-lead-to-direct-action

Communities that use Bridges concepts to address poverty have a way of talking about poverty and prosperity that leads to direct action. The conversations that lead to the action includes people of all classes, races, sectors, and political persuasions.
I’ve seen this in action and know it to be true, but I didn’t really appreciate how [...]

Read Full Post »

how-to-engage-employers-in-a-bridges-initiative

This is a story about the business sector buying into Bridges and employing Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-by World graduates.
On June 9, 2009, 90 people attended a meeting at Goodwill Industries in South Bend, Indiana, to hear about the Future Story Project; 20 businesses were represented. The event was organized by the St. Joseph County [...]

Read Full Post »

how-to-assess-the-progress-being-made-by-your-bridges-initiative

The Boulder County Bridges Initiative in Colorado has a lot going for it: solid leadership and funding, an engaged community, and a professional support staff. They know how to manage a project and build a movement. Click here to view the tool they created to assess the progress of their Bridges work.
The Progress Assessment is [...]

Read Full Post »

bridges-steering-committees-in-26-communities-%e2%80%93-a-list

The first community to develop a Bridges Steering Committee was Springfield, Ohio.  The actions that group took to address predatory practices in Clark County, Ohio, sparked the imagination of other groups that wanted to organize themselves to use Bridges concepts to address poverty in new ways.
Bridges Steering Committees began cropping up across the nation.  Now [...]

Read Full Post »

ohio-secretary-of-state-launches-better-lives-better-ohio-social-health-index

On July 8, 2009, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner launched Better Lives, Better Ohio, a social health index. Ohio is one of a very few states to have such an index and is, I believe, the only state to have a web-based index. Click here to view the Better Lives, Better Ohio webpage.
For [...]

Read Full Post »

website-for-getting-ahead-sites

There are more than 100 sites using Getting Ahead, and there are thousands of ideas and best practices to be shared. As more and more Investigators graduate from Getting Ahead and begin to move ahead with their lives, the barriers they encounter and the solutions they find are forming a learning explosion!
Wouldn’t it be great [...]

Read Full Post »

Next »