Critiques and solutions offered by social changemakers from all walks of life

The United States is living through a period of polarization and upheaval. We hunger for answers, yet too often turn to the same people and institutions, expecting different outcomes. How can this be?

America's Path Forward takes a different angle. It features award-winning social innovators from all walks of life with decades of experience of working in and with their communities across America. In twenty-two deep, idea-packed conversations, they share their analyses, practical insights, and policy recommendations—on how to gain common ground, get the country unstuck, and increase prosperity and well-being for all.

These narratives share a common thread: They see community members—workers, young people, parents, neighbors, from Appalachia to Silicon Valley, from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes— as creative, resourceful, and strong, with unique expertise and lived experience of the problem at hand, whose changemaking energy can be tapped to build a better future for all of us.

Konstanze Frischen is a member of the global leadership group of Ashoka, a global organization that invests in transformative ideas for social change. A social anthropologist by background, she has co-led Ashoka’s emergence and growth in Western Europe. She has been a writer for CNN and a writer/editor for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as well as a board member for GLS Bank, Germany’s leading ethical financial institution.

Michael Zakaras is the director of Ashoka US and co-founder of Ashoka’s “All America” initiative which pushes the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond the traditional coastal circles. Michael has previously worked for Ashoka in Ireland and Central Europe, and before that in the California wine industry. He writes regularly about social entrepreneurship for Forbes, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and more.

ForewordFrank McCourt

IntroductionKonstanze Frischen and Michael Zakaras

1. The Power of Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground UpSara Horowitz

2. Jobs You Write Songs About: Ocean Farming and Overcoming the Class Divide in the Environmental Movement Bren Smith

3. When Black Women Walk, Things Change: The Radical Response of Self-care and JoyT. Morgan Dixon

4. You're Welcome: Making Immigration Work for AllDavid Lubell

5. We See What We Look For: Race and the Power of Asset-FramingTrabian Shorters

6. Let's Start Where We Agree:Gun OwnershipCasey Woods

7. Momentum Now: The Path to Indigenous Self-determinationNick Tilsen

8. Poor People Do Not Need Charity: The Resourcefulness of Communities EverywhereMauricio Lim Miller

9. Beyond Coal:Rebuilding the Appalachian EconomyBrandon Dennison

10. The Power of Corn, Beans, and Squash: A Culture of Health on Indian LandDenisa Livingston

11. Defending Each Other: The Ability of Ordinary People to Help End Mass IncarcerationRaj Jayadev

12. A Road to Repair: Violence, Accountability, and a Common JusticeDanielle Sered

13. The Goal Is Liberation: Public Education for Undocumented Young PeopleLaura Emiko Soltis

14. You Are Being Watched: Defending Privacy in the Digital AgeAlbert Fox Cahn

15. It's My Life: Young People Redesigning Child WelfareSixto Cancel

16. A New Social Fabric: Supporting Young People, No Matter WhatSarah Hemminger

17. It Takes a Village: Black Parents Protecting Black GeniusWill Jackson

18. We Belong Here: The Privilege of Feeling Safe in the OutdoorsAngelou Ezeilo

19. Building Community Wealth: Black-Owned Businesses in the Mississippi DeltaTim Lampkin

20. Toward an Ownership Economy: Keeping Jobs Local and Employees in ChargeAlison Lingane

21. Getting to Zero: Communities Solving HomelessnessRosanne Haggerty

22. Democracy Reborn: A New Culture of CitizenshipEric Liu

Reflection

In Practice: Some Recommendations

Acknowledgments

About the Editors and Contributors

About Ashoka