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Inspirational Speaker John Kretzmann

On February 16, 2007, Our United Villages sponsored an event at Kaiser Town Hall for an inspiring evening with John Kretzmann. 

John (Jody) Kretzmann is Co-Director of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.  Jody is also the author of Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets. Jody has international recognition as an inspiring and wise advocate of strength-based approaches to building healthy local communities. 

Jody shared stories about how asset-based community development works in everyday lives and communities.  Catherine Malinas, from Girls Incorporated of NW Oregon, and Marc Jolin, from JOIN, also spoke about how their organization uses an asset-based approach locally. 

Everyone who attended the event was invited to reconvene one week after the event at the Overlook House.  The night started with sharing reflections about memorable stories, strategies, and insights from Jody. 

Many people discussed how Jody’s message encouraged everyone to see their community as a glass that is half full. Jody’s strategy is to map out the assets in a community, lift them up and celebrate them, and connect the assets to one another. Stories that Jody shared about innovative and strength-based solutions to what may be viewed as a “problem” or a “barrier” seemed to stick with people.

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