Friday – May 13, 2011
Tokai University
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3 Properties Of Competent Communities
The Abundant Community – John McKnight & Peter Block
 Gift-Mindedness – the raw material for community; focus on the gifts of community members.
 Associational Life – relationships, the process through which gifts are exchanged.
 Hospitality – that which widens our inventory of gifts; offer hospitality, welcome strangers.
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Positive Deviance – Building From Our Gifts
E very community, organization, or social group has individuals whose exceptional behaviors or practices enable them to get better results than their neighbors with the exact same resources.
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The Power Of Networks
 Mission – focus on mission, not the organization.
 Trust – focus on trust, not control.
 Node – focus on being a node, not on being the hub with partners as spokes.
Source for Network Graphic: orgnet.com
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Strengthening Networks . . .
Nurture quality connections so projects can be high risk & high impact
Bridge difference . Connect people and ideas that normally don’t go together
Support overlapping projects or collaborations , many very small, initiated by many
Map the network in order to visualize structure , diagnose strengths and weaknesses, and identify strategies for growing the network
Grow and engage periphery to bring in new resources and innovation
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Source: Adapted from June Holley, www.networkweaving.com
. Source for Network Graphic: orgnet.com
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Example – Children’s Savings Initiative
27,000 Hawai‘i Island Children
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Example – Children’s Savings Initiative
27,000 Hawai‘i Island Children
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Children’s Savings Initiative
27,000 Hawai‘i Island Children
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Our Value Proposition – Asset Building
Assets are essential to:
 have financial security against difficult times – the
dignity of choice and control;
 create economic opportunities for oneself and family
– realize human potential through education and entrepreneurship ; and
 leave a legacy for future generations to have a better life – realistically reduce the cycle of poverty.
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“ Those who are self-sufficient have control and choice over their lives.
Having and keeping control and choice requires an accumulation of a critical mass of social and economic assets, which provide stability and access to opportunities .”
Maurice Lim Miller
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Hawai‘i’s Asset Building Framework
 Make Work Pay (EITC, tax policies)
 Teach Asset Building (broad public awareness, schools, workplaces)
 Break Down Barriers to Asset Building (asset limits, predatory lending, insurance)
 Help People Save (IDAs, children savings accounts, retirement, education)
 Help People Start and Own Businesses
(microenterprise, community lending, training)
 Help People Buy Homes (government matches and grants, employee assistance)
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Ho‘owaiwai Hawai‘i Island
Building Genuine Wealth
June, 2011
County of Hawai‘i, Department of Research & Development
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Oikonomia – ‘Ohana Economics
Access to Learning Opportunities
Increase Earning
Opportunities
Increase Family
Assets
Manage Household Expenses &
Reduce Debt/ Risk
Steady Income + Reduce Expense = Opportunity to Increase Assets
Assets = Financial Security, Economic Opportunity, and Future Legacy
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Earn It Strategies . . .
 Financial Education, Planning, &
Management
 VITA & EITC
 Living Wage Jobs
 Anchor Institutions
Keep It Strategies . . .
 Financial Services
 Matched Savings
 Consumer Protection
 Access To Transportation Options &
TOD Opportunities
 Access To Healthy, Local Food
Sources
 Increased Energy Efficiency
Grow It Strategies . . .
 Affordable Home Ownership &
Rental Options
 Community-Based Investment
Models
 CBED, Asset Building, & Regional
Community Development Planning
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Embedding Asset Building In Local Government . . .
 Cities for Financial Empowerment
 Involvement, Understanding, & Commitment From All County
Agencies
A Network Approach . . .
Communities are built on connections.
Better connections usually provide better opportunities.
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