The Common Enterprise: A Report from San Antonio, Texas

Abstract

Five years ago I sat in the audience and listened to National Civic League chair John Gardner challenge us-those of us who spent our lives trying to build community-to join a national movement of American renewal. John' s vision put in words what many of us were trying to create: a world that embraces diversity, seeks common ground with unlikely partners, focuses on tapping the talents and experiences of all people, and tackles tough community problems and a world built on the strength of our neighborhoods and communities. Most important, these collective actions were helping us build and strengthen relationships that we could then turn to for the ongoing set of challenges we faced locally.With the National Civic League turning one hundred years old, John inspired us to focus on the promise and hope of the work we were doing at home, in our neighborhoods all across the country, instead of giving in to the rising tide of cynicism and hopelessness that seemed to be our constant companion.At the time, I was helping the Rockefeller Foundation put together the Common Enterprise, a new community-building initiative. We had spent the previous two years examining what was working across the country in many different fields-community building, community organizing, leadership development, politics, journalism, facilitation, government, the private sector, foundations, youth work-and seeing what we could learn across these areas. Simultaneously we were holding conversations with a wide range of residents in the cities we had targeted. These conversations included the involved, committed individuals who were making a difference but were not widely known.