Seth Kaplan: Fragile Neighborhoods

Join CivicCon for a free event with Seth Kaplan on the powerful role neighborhoods play in shaping our lives. Across the country, many communities are experiencing school violence, family disintegration, addiction, alienation and despair. These challenges are not confined to low income areas. They affect neighborhoods rich and poor, rural and urban and everywhere in between. Healthy neighborhoods are built through strong networks of local institutions and relationships. Faith organizations, nonprofits, schools, neighborhood associations, small businesses and civic groups each play a critical role in creating stability and opportunity. When these networks are connected and working together, they help communities weather economic shocks, public safety challenges and social crises. When they are weak or fragmented, neighborhoods become more vulnerable to decline. In this presentation, Seth Kaplan will outline a bold vision for addressing social decline in America one zip code at a time. By strengthening local institutions and rebuilding the social ties that connect neighbors to one another, communities can become places where individuals and families truly thrive. Seth Kaplan is a leading expert on fragile states. He is a professional lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, senior advisor for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFTT), and consultant to multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and OECD, as well as developing country governments and NGOs. This event is free and open to the public.