Everyone has something to offer.
But how do we discover and include the gifts of the people around us to build strong communities?
Join us for a 3-day learning experience around the principles and practices of Asset Based Community Development, presented by Starfire.
Asset Based Community Development fellows Dr. Allison Lourash from Wisconsin and Indigo Bishop from Cleveland will guide attendees through the practices of discovering what’s right (instead of what’s wrong) with people and communities. Their three-day learning experience will help unleash the power of places and spaces where everyone belongs and contributes.
Speaker Bios
Allison Lourash, PhD, is a disabled community scholar-practitioner living in Wisconsin and has spent her career in the human services and education sectors. Her background in using an asset-based approach to non-profit management lends itself to working with human services organizations seeking to apply ABCD. Allison’s research interests center around social capital and people with disabilities as well as policy and evaluation of human services programs. Her Ph.D. dissertation focused on community practitioners working to advance inclusion for people with disabilities using an ABCD lens. Allison is also involved in numerous projects with the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at DePaul University serving as a Steward and Board Member.
Indigo Bishop, founder, Free by Design, is a social worker and facilitator from Cleveland, Ohio. Indigo works for the Saint Luke’s Foundation as a Program Officer and manages strategic neighborhood investments. Prior to this, she worked in public housing, engaging the community in transforming a portion of their neighborhood. Indigo has also worked for ioby and Neighborhood Connections where she educated and connected passionate leaders to opportunities and capital. Currently through her business, Free by Design, Indigo convenes, trains, and engages folks in uncovering what they care about most and facilitates collective action for sustainable community development.
