We are excited to announce two hot-off-the-presses Civity research publications: A “Civity” Approach Helps Build the Civic Muscle that Underlies Healthy Communities, peer-reviewed Opinion Editorial in the April 2025 issue of the American Journal of Public Health Civity Stories: Going to the “Heart” of NIMBY Resistance to Affordable Housing, Civity’s report on more than a year of …
Continue reading “Civity Research Tells an Empowering Story”
I recently spent a week with family in the Town of Ashland, Oregon. Ashland lies at the very southern end of the state, nestled between the Siskiyou and Cascade Mountain ranges where the two intersect. The centerpiece of the Town is Lithia Park, which unfolds from the town plaza up into the foothills. Lithia Park …
In Civity workshops, we get a lot of questions about what civity looks like in “real life.” Sometimes we hear, “we all know that building connections across difference is important, but what does that look like in the day-to-day?” I clearly remember an “aha moment” from a couple of years ago when I first became …
Continue reading “Civity in Action: Finding Connection in Everyday Life”
For a long time, I’ve been drawn to mosaics. I remember making a mosaic as an art project when I was a Camp Fire Girl – pushing tiny smooth stones into wet mortar held by the top of a cottage cheese carton. (These tops used to be metal rather than plastic!) There was – there …
It began with a community meeting in Hastings, Nebraska, in August of 2018. Since then the long-standing partnership between Civity and the Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) has grown and flourished. This seven-year collaboration is more than just a joint venture; it is a testament to the power of relationship-building at a local level. CFRA, …
At the end of September, I drove up to Lake Superior for a long weekend. The Ojibway/Anishinaabe, who lived in the region long before Europeans arrived, call it Gichigami. It is monumental, the lake cut and filled with water by volcanic action followed by glaciers millions of years ago. Along Superior’s southeastern shore, the cliffs of the Pictured …
Continue reading “As we hurtle toward the election, remember this…”
Malka & Palma sat down with Citizen Connect Co-Founder Brian Clancy in April on Citizen Connect Live to discuss Civity, the importance of engaging in conversation to build relationships, and how small changes can make big differences. Malka & Palma remind us that we all have the power to transform our communities by building relationships …
Continue reading “WATCH: Civity in Conversation with Citizen Connect”
I’ve been getting my nails done regularly at salons for years. It has become routine to sit silently, smile, say “thank you,” tip, and leave. Though I’ve always been respectful toward and appreciative of people working as nail technicians, it wasn’t until I began interning at Civity that I started intentionally connecting with the people …
Continue reading “What Civity Means to Me: An Intern’s Perspective”
We are excited to introduce you to one of our newest partners: Civic Nebraska, dedicated to empowering connection, building understanding, and cultivating advocacy to build a more modern and robust democracy for all Nebraskans. With the support of the Cotyledon Fund, we are collaborating with Civic Nebraska to support rural Nebraskans in talking across differences …
This column originally appeared in The Fulcrum. The definition of “civity” is “a culture of deliberately engaging in relationships of respect and empathy with others who are different.” The goal of Civity, the organization I co-founded, is building a civity culture. So why the emphasis on others, on people who are different? The short answer …
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