Atop our voices: Listening, learning, and acting for community

As individuals in a larger system, we can help nurture a culture of caring, consideration, and thoughtful compromise – but that takes a consistent pattern of communication over time.
George Norris, the Great War, and political courage

Though I grew up 90 miles away in Grant, probably the first time I heard about McCook’s George Norris was in college. It wasn’t in history class, though. I was […]
Shopping locally: a source of civic power

Our democracy gives us the opportunity to elect our public officials at a local, state and national level. This is a powerful tool to help shape what we want to […]
In business or in civic life, it’s innovate or die

I recently read an article titled “This phrase will kill your business!” The phrase is We have always done it this way, or any number of variations of the same […]
Everyday check-up

There is so much to do. Many of us are called to participate in community, family, and work-related activities on a day-to-day basis. It’s important as you take your commute […]
Leadership beyond agendas and the status quo

I am ashamed to say that I’m a member of a bad board of directors. No one on the board is a bad person, but as a group, we’ve failed […]
For this future, no DeLorean is necessary

Look down 19th Street on Geneva’s eastern edge and you’ll see a concrete street poured so recently it’s still clean – a white expanse of promise. Just off the street, a […]
Here’s how to supercharge civic education in Nebraska

My first job out of college was teaching social studies at South Platte High School in Big Springs. The job came open when the former social studies teacher, Virginia Krajewski, […]
To sound out real change, get un-com-fort-a-ble

Her name was Liza. She was 8 years old and a second grader at Burton Elementary on the south side of Grand Rapids. We met on Thursdays at 1 in […]
Civic service in the sharing of grief (and pie)

As a child, Diane Jansky knew almost immediately when someone in her hometown passed away. Word would reach her grandmother and her grandmother would be in the kitchen at once, […]