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Is ABCD an inclusive process? How do you make ABCD address diversity? Having immersed myself in the Asset Based Community Development world, in my previous role in public health, and now at Tamarack, I keep seeing and hearing the same questions over and over. Is ABCD an inclusive process? How do you make ABCD address diversity? These questions have made me think about ABCD and does the approach address diversity and inclusion? 

The Civilization Research Institute works to support the emergence of a mature global civilization capable of wisely stewarding the unprecedented power of exponential technologies in concert with an enduringly healthy biosphere while avoiding the twin failure modes of catastrophes and dystopias.

“To offend a strong man, tell him a lie. To offend a weak man, tell him the truth.” That was Marcus Aurelius, by the way, who managed to govern an empire, write a best-selling journal, and somehow avoid being canceled, which is more than I can say for most of my high school friends with

Tamarack is a connected force for community change. Learn more about our history, our commitments, and our plans for building a more equitable society.

There are moments in life that make you feel like a genius. For most people, it’s when they successfully parallel park on the first try or remember someone’s name at a party. For me, it was when I found a voice memo on my phone I didn’t even remember recording. I was at home, scrolling

We are not, most of us, in the habit of expecting kindness. Not from strangers, not without motive, and certainly not without a price. The world trains us otherwise. Transactions, obligations, reciprocal arrangements; these are the grammar of our daily lives. And so, when something inexplicably kind occurs, when someone holds the door without checking

To create resilient and thriving communities by teaching local people and organizations how to identify, nurture and mobilize existing community assets and talents for change.

At first, it all felt like progress. Smooth interfaces. Same-day shipping. Affordable college loans. Doctors who smiled. Governments that promised. Food that tasted like it came from the earth rather than a lab. There was a time, not so long ago, when life seemed to be pointing somewhere promising, if not quite paradise then at

The Book of Ecclesiastes does not preach so much as it sighs. It does not command but contemplates. You can almost hear the shuffle of sandals on worn stone as its author, called the Teacher, circles through thoughts that feel more like weather than doctrine. There is a rhythm to it that resists resolution. Meaning

There’s a kind of unapologetic clarity in the phrase sometimes wrong, but never in doubt. It sounds reckless at first, maybe even arrogant, but there’s a strange nobility tucked inside it. It reminds me of a conversation I had years ago when I was still in uniform, a newly minted officer full of principles and

There was a man I knew; let’s call him Craig, although his name was something less memorable, like Todd or Phil, who had an astonishing ability to say absolutely everything and do absolutely nothing. He had opinions on politics, parenting, proper back posture, and the geopolitical implications of oat milk. He wore scarves in spring

The first time I heard the phrase; text without context is pretext, I thought someone was scolding me for plagiarizing a Bible verse on Instagram. It sounded like the kind of slogan you'd find on a Baptist church marquee, wedged between a pun about sin and an announcement for the Thursday night potluck. But it