Campaign for
the new Civic Path
Amid widespread national turmoil and looming midterm elections, the “Civic Crusader” Rich Harwood is crisscrossing the country on his Campaign for the New Civic Path to provide a practical path forward. One that taps into Americans’ yearning for an apolitical message from an apolitical messenger. Calls us to rise to something better in ourselves. And offers a new sense of possibility and hope.
Follow the Campaign
We must not surrender to the negative forces consuming society today. You want to create change in your community. Rich’s campaign is designed to help you achieve your aspirations.
Let’s be real. More politics can’t save us. There is no quick fix to what ails American society. But as Rich argues in a recent Washington Post op-ed, there is a practical, hopeful path forward: the new civic path.
We must address our “crisis of belief.” Our politics are broken; but at root, we face a crisis of belief—in our systems, institutions, leaders, even one another. We must act to restore our belief that we can get things done together. This is a cultural and human challenge.
We must rally around a new moral vision. Americans seek decency, dignity, belonging, and shared responsibility. And they’re ready to take action on a set of shared concerns—like youth, senior care, affordable housing, mental health, and others. We believe this is the foundation of a new moral vision that transcends divisive politics and has the power to galvanize us.
We must get on a new civic path. This starts in our local communities. Only by getting on a new civic path can we restore our belief and reclaim our shared agency by building on what we can agree on and taking real action together—not as Republicans, Democrats, or Independents, but as Americans.
People all across America have joined this campaign. They’re hungry for a new path forward.
Join us. Let’s go together.
“Harwood refuses to give up on the American experiment. He reminds us what’s at stake is nothing less than our own future.”
— Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent, PBS NewsHour: ‘America at a Crossroads’
4 ways to Rebuild your community
Read Rich’s Amazon bestselling manifesto, The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation
Watch our acclaimed documentary short film Selma, Beacon of Hope
Discover how America’s poorest community transformed itself by getting on the new civic path
Bring Rich and this campaign to your community and unlock a new path forward
A Manifesto for Change
The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation is an Amazon bestseller and Eric Hoffer Book Award finalist for a reason. It boldly lays out a new path forward to create the change we need today.
It’s best experienced with others. Download our Discussion Guide and start a book club with friends or colleagues.
Selma, beacon of hope
In 1965, Selma, AL, pierced the consciousness of the nation when civil rights’ marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Today, Selma once again reminds us of the work we need to do as individuals, as communities, and as a nation.
Download our discussion guide to host a screening in your community.
Reading, PA’s NEW CIVIC PATH
Once declared the poorest community in America, Reading, PA, got on a new civic path and created widespread transformation, including systemic education change. Progress in Reading is proof that American communities can thrive and work for all of us, not just some of us. Learn how in the report, Reading’s Ripples of Change or the two-part podcast series “The Extraordinary Transformation of a City and Its Schools.”
“Harwood empowers us to act as agents of transformative change in our local communities.”
— Kristin Hansen, Executive Director, Civic Health Project
Get in motion with A book circle
America needs more agents of hope. America needs you.
That’s why we’ve designed a guide so you can hold a book circle in your community to discuss how you can put the principles of The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation into action to address your community’s challenges and take real action together.
This isn’t just about reading and discussing a book. It’s about reframing the challenge before us, rediscovering our shared values, and activating ourselves as agents of hope. That’s how we can take practical steps to make America’s next 250 years even better, starting today.
We’ve made it easy to do with our Book Circle Kit, which has everything you need to host—offered at a discounted price.
William & MARY
Founded in 1693, William & Mary is the country’s second-oldest institution of higher learning. Our partnership, part of William & Mary’s Year of Civic Learning, is helping prepare the next generation of civic leaders to serve our nation and world with distinction.
Innovative Campaign Partnerships
PREsident lincoln’s Cottage
Our campaign is partnered with this premier cultural institution as part of their year-long series “Empathy & Connection: A Vision for America at 250.” Together, we are seeking to take on Lincoln’s “unfinished work” in pursuit of a more perfect union.
faith250
We are a founding partner of faith250, a national initiative bringing together hundreds of local faith communities to clarify our shared civic values and celebrate our hopes for the future of America.
Unlock a new path forward for your community
Let’s partner to get your community on a new civic path by creating space to bring your community together in-person or virtually.
“Worried about American democratic decline? Then stop fighting. Stop withdrawing. Start building… The New Civic Path now offers those lessons to us”
— Brook Manville, Co-Author, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives
“Exactly what we need: critical, joyful, and messy examples of people working together towards a new civic path”
— Rodney McKenzie, Vice President of Ally Development, Fetzer Institute
We’re self funding this campaign because we believe so deeply in the need for a new civic path. But we need your help to spread the message further. Make a one-time or recurring donation today in support of the new civic path.
Keep up with Rich and the campaign on social media