January 6: From Parties to Policy: Asset Based Community Development

De’Amon Harges and Mike Mather’s practice has centered on partying. This is where social capital is built and can be built across every boundary our society has. It doesn’t stop there, though. Celebrating together can and does lead to policy change. These policy changes can (and often do) lead to more money in the pockets of the poor, fewer people in jail, and a recognition that people who are often thought of as having nothing—have in fact gifts we are all poorer without.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021
12 – 1 PM, CST

In this virtual event, moderated by Collegeville Institute Executive Director Don Ottenhoff, De’Amon and Mike will share stories and reflections on what they have learned in the church and community across their 20 year friendship.

Did you miss this event? Watch a recording below:

De’Amon Harges is a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, community organizer, creator of the Learning Tree, chairperson of the Grassroots Grantmakers Association Board, and is featured in the new documentary “The Antidote: On Kindness in America.” He is a frequent speaker on ABCD in secular and religious groups around the world, and is a layperson at Broadway UMC, Indianapolis, IN. De’Amon’s role is to listen and discover the gifts, passions and dreams of citizens in his community, and to find ways to utilize them in order to build community, economy, and mutual “delight.”

Rev. Michael Mather is the pastor of First Church Boulder. He is the author of Having Nothing, Possessing Everything: Finding Abundant Communities in Unexpected Places. He is on the faculty of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at DePaul University and is a Collegeville Institute Independent Scholar, whose past research and writing has focused on congregational asset-based outreach ministries. He has also been involved at the Collegeville Institute as a presenter for the Rural Fellows program.