Category Archives: Uncategorized

For fighting poverty and addressing other social ills, I proposed the Start RESPECT Act, or the Restoring Empathy, Security, Power, Engagement, Civility, and Togetherness Act.

Over the next two days, I am conducting training on project management, leadership, and strategy for 18 NGOs in Vilnius, Lithuania in coordination if Transparency International Lithuania and with support from the U.S. Embassy. See http://thinkdo.transparency.lt  The participants in the training program are of diverse ages, include organizational directors and project managers, and represent a wonderfulContinue reading “Training NGOs in Lithuania”

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 18 trips to carry that many people. Click here to see theContinue reading “2013 in review”

The UCF Center for Public and Nonprofit Management is recruiting 15 AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) to commence a year of full-time service in February 2014. As a member of our VISTA team, you will focus your efforts to build the organizational, administrative, and financial capacity of public and nonprofit organizations that serveContinue reading “Now Recruiting AmeriCorps VISTA to Help Homeless Students in Central Florida”

 CALL FOR PAPERS  The State of the Research on Civic Engagement:  How Service and Volunteerism is Reshaping our Civic and Community Health  8th Annual Public Administration Research Conference  Friday, March 28  UCF Fairwinds Alumni Center  This conference will convene local and national scholars and practitioners concerned about the use of national service and volunteer programsContinue reading “Call for Papers: The State of the Research on Civic Engagement: How Service and Volunteerism is Reshaping our Civic and Community Health”

Later this week, I am going into my son’s 6-9 grade class to discuss all that is happening in Washington, DC with the federal government. Combined with my son’s seventh grade spelling list for the week, I have constructed a story. Is there a broader lesson here about seventh grade academics and the antics inContinue reading “A Story of a Government Shutdown: Using Seventh Grade Spelling Words”

As I sit at the ICMA conference, in the audience for a civic engagement session for the ICMA Center for Management Strategies, where the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management is now a service provider, I reflect on ten tips for governments in their civic engagement efforts.  1. If you are going to open upContinue reading “Ten Thoughts on Civic Engagement for Governments”

I like to think much of my work is important: teaching students to be effective future public service leaders, writing material that may someday have an impact on community and the lives of others… but to adopt a son from the foster system… I know the impact everyday. We still have 2-3 months before theContinue reading “The Most Important…”

Last year I published an article in Public Integrity about the ethics of policy responses to the housing crisis and attempts to recover. I drew on my own experiences as a context-setting device. Read about the article here. Since writing that article in 2011 (published in 2012), more activity has occurred, which has continued to shed lightContinue reading “Good Intentions and Disparities”