When Disaster Hits, Your First Responder Probably Will Not Be a First Responder

The FIRST assets in a disaster are neighbors. In fact, it turns out that while your neighbors have everything to do with your immediate chances in a disaster, your neighbors and their collective extended connections determine how well and how fast your community will recover.

Organizational Culture of Fear: The Shadow Side of US Culture

Don't let the title mislead you. Peter's intimate conversation with life, career and business coach CJ Liu is profound, touching and funny. Ostensibly a discussion of Peter's book Flawless Consulting, CJ says at the end, "We didn't talk about the book at all." Instead, the conversation ranged from personal transformation, integrating who you are with what you do and outlets for pain and rage to freedom, authenticity, courage and the power of co-creation--plus yoga, cartoons, parenting and much more.

The Problem With Problems

One of the reasons we may have so little productive citizen creativity at the local level is that people buy into the belief that the purpose of getting together is to deal with a problem. There is another purpose that is probably more important: engagement that mobilizes citizen creativity and contributions.

Join us for an Open Streets Study Tour October 6th-8th!

The Open Streets Project is partnering with the non-profit organization New Brunswick Tomorrow to deliver an educational Open Streets Study Tour in New Brunswick, NJ from October 6th - October 8th. The Study Tour will feature classroom sessions, networking opportunities, a behind the scenes tour of New Brunswick’s industry leading Ciclovia.

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Open Streets Project Revamped

The Open Streets Project has undergone some changes over the last year. We bid a sad farewell to project co-founder, the Alliance for Biking & Walking, who are moving on to other things, and we happily welcomed a new partner, international Open Streets leader 8 80 Cities. We are excited for all the possibilities and energy this partnership will bring.

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How To Build A Charter School

After years of guiding charter school facilities development, LISC has bottled its knowledge in a new platform: SchoolBuild: From Idea to Construction. SchoolBuild is an essential online resource to support charter school leaders as they dig into the process of creating a bricks-and-mortar facility, with advice on everything from cost projections to financing options and the many other steps required to bring a new school to life.

#CraftingSomethingGreat in Duluth

In an op-ed for the Duluth News Tribune, Pam Kramer enumerates the plans, investments, collaborations and creative sparks that have turned an area of blight and brownfield into the Lincoln Park Craft District. The humming, entrepreneurial neighborhood has become a model for how to leverage local craft manufacturing to fuel community revitalization, says Duluth LISC’s executive director.

In San Diego, LISC is an Engine that Accelerates Opportunity

An in-depth article in the San Diego Union Tribune touted LISC’s new fund to spur affordable housing creation in a city facing a serious shortage. We beg to differ with the “little-known” descriptor in the article’s title, but the account of LISC’s 25 years of work in underinvested San Diego neighborhoods illustrates our role perfectly.