Many of the bright spots identified during the small group discussions in NYC called out community engagement as a critical success factor. The phrase “respecting community knowledge” comes from one group’s comment about the Center for Urban Pedagogy, which brings design thinking and practice to community issues.
Read in-depth highlights from Threads New York
The first Threads community conversation was held at Ford Foundation headquarters in New York City on March 24, 2015. The 142 leaders in attendance identified challenges and and bright spots that have a profound impact on the nonprofit and philanthropic community. The “pervasiveness of poverty” emerged as an important societal-level theme throughout the conversation. The major challenges facing the sector included the “time horizon” challenge (meaning the push for short term metrics on issues that require long term focus), and concerns about obstacles to collaboration across organizations. Many of the bright spots identified focused on multiple forms of community engagement and organizing, as well as the importance of working with business and government allies to deepen impact.
If you weren’t able to follow the New York conversation on social media, be sure to check out our Storify to see what people were sharing online using #ThreadsNY.
