What works and what doesn’t? That’s a basic but important question for community nonprofits to address. But more times than not, we tend to launch off hunches. We think we know what works, but we don’t know, with quantifiable data points to back it up.

At Breakthrough 2019, we were honored to hear from Heather Reynolds, who heads up Notre Dame’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO). LEO is dedicated to finding and replicating the best poverty-reducing nonprofits in America, with a specific focus on evidence-based practices. Watch the video for more.

American civil society is broken. So many Americans live fragmented lives, disconnected from the institutions and associations that once characterized American life and brought people of all economic classes together—everything from churches and synagogues to rotary clubs and bowling leagues. Today, so many Americans—particularly from the poor and working class—face life alone.

But what can be done to change that dynamic?

Defining Social Capital
Tim Carney, best-selling author of the new book Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, shared some solutions during a keynote Q&A at Breakthrough 2019.

The problem of alienation in America extends far beyond economics—as crucial as economics are. The problems are deeply social and relational. “It’s a lack of belonging, but it’s more than that. People are disconnected and they don’t even see the point of being connected in the first place,” Tim shared.

Community Solutions
The solution? It must come locally and through individual lives. This admonition from Tim was the perfect setup for what we heard the rest of the day during Breakthrough—from local, on-the-ground organizations in Atlanta and across Georgia that are renewing civil society one life at a time.

Check back soon for more video content from Breakthrough 2019!

“The secret is in the soil.” 

That’s how Georgia Center for Opportunity President and CEO Randy Hicks opened Breakthrough 2019.

Randy shared the story of how Moses Coleman discovered Vidalia onions purely by accident in 1931. These onions can only be grown in a 20-county region in southeast Georgia where the soil conditions are perfect.

Randy encouraged Breakthrough attendees to consider a different kind of soil: “The conditions of our homes and our communities.”

“It’s easy and important for us to be very aware of Georgia’s macro issues—statewide economic numbers, student performance, and criminal justice issues,” Randy said. “But we can’t just look at those issues and not consider the conditions that often have more to do with our well-being than anything else. That’s the soil.”

Watch the video and then check back soon for more content from Breakthrough 2019!