In this milestone 300th episode of Circulating Ideas, Steve Thomas chats with Rich Harwood, president and founder of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and author of “The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in Each Other and Our Nation,” about Harwood’s inspirational journey, the importance of community in building hope, and how libraries and local organizations can help restore hope, dignity, and civic engagement in America.

Read the transcript!

We are suffering from a crisis of belief in our country today. So many people have lost faith in America—in our leaders, institutions, and even one another. The status quo is not working for far too many of us. Our central task today is to meet this historic moment. But how do we grow our belief that we can get things done together—not as Republicans or Democrats or Independents, but as Americans? How do we rebuild trust and reclaim agency?

In this deeply personal manifesto written while crisscrossing the country for his “Enough. Time to Build.” civic campaign, Richard C. Harwood reveals how we can address the fundamental challenges holding us back in America today. We must dedicate ourselves to forging a new civic path that grows our belief that we can move forward amid our real differences. The New Civic Path is a must-read for those who want to spark civic renewal and get our communities and the country moving again.

Richard C. Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, is an innovator, author, and speaker. For nearly 40 years, he has devoted his career to revitalizing the nation’s hardest-hit communities, transforming the world’s largest organizations, and reconnecting institutions to society. He has been recruited to solve some of the most difficult problems of our time, including being called into Newtown, CT, after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He has appeared in numerous national media outlets and has written scores of articles, groundbreaking reports, and nine books. In 2025, Rich and the Institute are running the Campaign for the New Civic Path, anchored by his manifesto, The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation. 

SHOW NOTES:

The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation
The Harwood Institute