Better Together Flash Cards

Gold Coast

A wealthy, predominantly white neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side.

Cabrini Green

A former public housing project in Chicago, which was historically marked by poverty, crime, and segregation.

“Third Space”

A space other than home or work that encourages social activity and overall engagement with others.

Jane Hirshberg

A cultural organizer associated with the Shipyard Project, helping connect artists, shipyard workers, and community members

Liz Lerman

A choreographer and founder of the Dance Exchange and lead artist behind The Shipyard Project.

Dancers of the Third Age

A senior adult dance company created through the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, demonstrating that all age groups can contribute to civic and artistic life.

USS Thresher

A U.S. Navy submarine that sank in 1963, killing all 129 aboard, which was a powerful symbol of the Shipyard Project which highlighted the emotional history between Portsmouth residents and the shipyard

Shipyard Project

A large-scale, community-based dance project in 1994-1996 led by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, which used storytelling and movement to connect workers, families of lost sailors, and residents.

The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

A nonprofit, community-run organization based in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to empower residents of the Dudley neighborhood of Roxbury and North Dorchester to organize, plan for, create, and control a vibrant, diverse, and high-quality community

Riley Foundation

A philanthropic foundation that financially supported the Dudley Street project by helping the DSNI build capacity without taking control, allowing authentic community ownership.

Nelson Merced

An early DSNI executive director and community leader who helped to build bridges between diverse ethnic groups and helped secure DSNI’s eminent domain authority

Bob Holmes

A state representative from Massachusetts who supported DSNI’s bid for eminent domain and helped to illustrate the importance of policymakers in amplifying grassroots voices

“Take a Stand, Own the Land”

DSNI’s slogan during its campaign for land control, which helped to encapsulate the movement for community land trusts and local agency

“Development without Displacement”

Principle that revitalization must benefit existing residents rather than push them out, which was the core philosophy of the DNSI

The Tupelo Model

A rural economic development model originating in Tupelo, Mississippi, emphasizing schools, civic dialogue, and collaboration, which shows long-term community investment and consensus building as drivers of success

George McLean

Publisher of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and architect of the Tupelo Model, who promoted civic responsibility and encouraged leadership training and community forums

Rural Community Development Councils

Local groups created to sustain the Tupelo Model’s community planning approach, which provided structure for continuous dialogue and action

“Education Before Industrial Parks”

A Tupelo Model principle prioritizing education and human capital over quick economic wins, which helps to show long-term civic vision and community stewardship

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

A regional newspaper central to promoting community collaboration in the Tupelo Model, which used journalism as a mechanism for civic education

Do Something League

A youth-led civic action program which engaged teens in leadership roles through online and real-life activism

Cam Derry

A Do Something staff member guiding youth leadership programs, who also helped to model adult facilitation that empowers and not controls youth civic action.

Andrew Shue

The founder of Do Something who helped to illustrate entrepreneurial civic leadership and showed how popular figures can help to mobilize youth participation in civic engagement

“Kindness and Justice Challenge”

A Do Something youth challenge encouraging civic service and awareness, which teaches young people about responsibility, compassion, respect, and nonviolence through both individual and community-focused actions

Kris Rondeau

A key organizer of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), who innovated a relational organizing model emphasizing listening and personal connection

Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW)

A union representing Harvard’s administrative workforce, which was an example of bridging social capital across hierarchies and identities and illustrates how labor organizing strengthens democracy through participation, voice, and collective bargaining

United Auto Workers (UAW)

A traditional industrial union contrasted with HUCTW, which was used to highlight differences between relational and traditional unionism and showed that multiple models of collective action and member participation existed.

Experience Corps

An intergenerational, volunteer-based tutoring program that engages adults age 50 and older as literacy tutors for struggling students in public schools

Center for Intergenerational Learning

The institution that helped design and support Experience Corp

Walter Hooke

A former UPS worker and a liberal labor relations expert for UPS who helped UPS to hire more blacks and women at a time when such practices were not done

James E. Casey

The founder of UPS whose principles shaped UPS’s culture of teamwork, employee loyalty, and diversity-building

Craigslist.org

An online community classifieds platform used to examine whether virtual communities can build real social capital.

Office of Neighborhood Associations (Portland)

A city-supported network that helps neighborhood groups organize and collaborate,

Neil Goldschmidt

Former Portland mayor who expanded neighborhood involvement structures

Urban Growth Boundary

A land-use policy that restricts outward city expansion, which was part of Portland’s story of community planning and sustainability

Civic Engagement

Contributing and working to make a difference in the public (or civic) life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and commitment to make that difference.

Social Capital (Bourdieu Definition)

The aggregate of the actual or potential resources linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition

Social Capital (Putnam Definition)

Features of social organization such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit

“One City, One Book”

A community reading program promoting shared civic dialogue, which was an example of using culture to create bridging connections

“Old heads”

A term used in Experience Corps to describe senior volunteers who bring wisdom and stability, which shows the value of older adults in community life.

Craig Newmark

The founder of Craigslist who helped to represent digital-era civic entrepreneurship

Eminent Domain

Government power to take private land for public use with compensation