What does community transformation look like in the US?

One of the most impressive local organizations I know of is IMPACT Silver Spring. This organization is mobilizing the power of diverse community members to build a more inclusive Silver Spring, Maryland. A specific example of IMPACT’s work can be seen in the way a team at IMPACT facilitated major changes at Piney Branch Elementary School.

Beyond their work on school transformation, IMPACT is also investing in building neighborhood networks in a way that rejects a charity-based model of nonprofit work. It also does not engage in historical community organizing traditions, which view power as a scarce resource to be attained through confrontation and struggle. IMPACT takes a different approach – one that is based in the belief that relationships across lines of difference and collaborative action are critical steps in the journey towards positive social change.

This grassroots network-building approach is relatively nascent for IMPACT, but it has been sprouting up in slightly different forms all over the US. I believe this movement, in its diverse and decentralized manifestations, is actively redefining the concept of “community” and “citizenship” in the US. In the longer term, it has the potential to restore our nation’s democracy by bringing in voices and stories that have been systematically excluded.