Affordable Housing is core to upward mobility. It is fundamental to a healthy community that has family stability, thriving diversity, and a region that attracts rather than repels people. It is a glue that keeps people here, engaged, and thriving. Charlotte, North Carolina: A little over a year ago, Foundation For The Carolinas issued a challenge…

Upward mobility is a critical issue across the country.  The previous newsletter addressed the work by Raj Chetty and how the lack of upward mobility is being experienced across the country. If we step back, we see all sorts of challenges that can be addressed and which impact upward mobility. One source of information is from…

The lack of upward mobility is a critical social issue. Contemporary information shows that a person’s health is often more about his or her zip code in addition to their genetic code. Geographic location matters, social capital matters, and institutionalized racism matters. The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility since 1940. David Grusky, Maximilian…

On August 16, 2017, I gave graduation advice to an MBA class receiving their diplomas that summer. I think it is time again to address the graduation classes that are passing a significant life milestone. As you know, we are in a very different place from August 2016. I join the many others who are…

The previous blog addressed the more general nature of systems thinking. It briefly descripted the six phases of systems thinking:  Launch; Discovery; Build Maps; Find Leverage; Act Strategically and Learn. This blog completes our conversation by describing the following phases: building maps, finding leverage, acting strategically, and learning.  A system means a configuration of parts…

System means a configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships. Systems thinking and the practice of systems thinking is a set of methods and ways to identify and address challenges; to see underlying patterns, find leverage points; and to choose actions that may provide healthier outcomes. Systems thinking and practices…

So many of the issues I’ve discussed in the SP3 blogs involve unique ways of thinking – most notably, systems thinking, strategic thinking, and design thinking.  By definition, a system is a configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships. Systems thinking, and practices are methods and ways to identify and…

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (ACO) was not quite four weeks old when the Eastern European wall fell. She experienced the Soviet Bloc’s “third way” during her childhood and amazing global growth throughout her teenage years. Similar to the U.K.’s Jeremy Corbyn and US Bernie Sanders, she now identifies as a socialist. Her democratic socialism is more than…

The U.S. government designed Opportunity Zones as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in order to spur investment in distressed U.S. communities. Governments of each state, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories nominated specific neighborhoods as Opportunity Zones. Up to 25 percent of the low-income census tracts in each state could be…

We should start the new year with a reminder – a reminder that climate change is not going away as a concern. Here are some data points for you to consider. As appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 17, 2019: ECONOMISTS’ STATEMENT ON CARBON DIVIDENDS. Who signed this statement: 4 Former chairs of the Federal…