What began as quiet conversations and small acts of collaboration is now growing into a countywide movement.
The Harwood Initiative, focused on fostering connection, trust, and action throughout Logan County, is gaining momentum.
The United Way of Logan County has partnered with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation on an initiative designed to produce community-led, community-driven change.
The initiative will aid the community in taking action on key issues that matter to people while strengthening Logan County’s civic culture so the community can accelerate and deepen its good work.
At the heart of this initiative is the belief that by working together, the people of Logan County can build a shared and hopeful path forward.
News Director, April King, and Derek Robb, Harwood Initiative Coordinator, sat down Sunday morning to talk about the initiative:
In February 2024, 55 community members came together over two full days to learn the Harwood approach at a Public Innovators Getting Started Lab.
Out of this Lab, three cross-sector action teams were formed to focus on Youth, Health/Mental Health, and Seniors.
With support from the Harwood Institute and United Way of Logan County, the teams are getting in motion by engaging the community through conversations.
Each team will use the public knowledge gathered in these conversations to take initial actions rooted in the community’s shared aspirations.
Over time, these teams hope to unleash a chain reaction of actions that takes root, grows, and spreads throughout the community like a positive contagion.
The initiative started with The Harwood Institute engaging hundreds of leaders and residents across the county.
The resulting report, Forging a Bright Future: How Logan County Keeps Building, highlighted the need to strengthen civic capacities, build on existing good work, and address shared challenges.
“Logan County is close-knit, has great schools, and local pride runs deep. Still, the community is dealing with challenges and faces a critical choice: Stay on the current path and potentially stagnate, or get on a more productive path by coming together to forge a bright future? In Logan County, the opportunity is ripe to build on the good while creating new ways to move forward together,” said Rich Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute. “That’s what this initiative is about.”
Learn more and find out how to get connected HERE.
