Democracy isn’t dead, but it needs some loving. We hear increasingly that people do not feel heard by our government and that our democracy is failing. Some people tuneout while others are fighting to the point of burnout. We must find ways to share the load, but just calling for more civic responsibility isn’t cutting it. Caring for our community should be something we want to do, not something we have to do. Unlike the marketplace (that’s run on money) or the political sphere (run on power), the currency of the civic space is love. During this year’s summit, we’ll transform public meetings dominated by yelling, finger-pointing, and name-calling. Instead, we’ll reimagine our civic spaces into ones where all of us can decide on our future…together.   

The good news is that it’s already happening. We see people harnessing local civic power in our work every day. They may not always call it “civics,” but as community members come together to feed, house, and care for people in the place they call home, we see: 

– Coalitions defying scarcity by sharing resources 

– Community members coming to the table with those they disagree with 

– Local institutions handing over decision-making to community members 

– Civic innovators piloting new ways of getting voices to the table 

– And many, many more ways of voting every day