Ronald David Pate, PhD, author, educator, consultant, has devoted his life to helping communities see over problems to what is good. Many are stuck in the habit of focusing on "the problem," making it impossible to solve. But the good news is: we all have a generative capacity for participating in a learning community, where a fuller vision emerges. The goodness found therein motivates the co-creation of restorative plans and collaborative action! --Pate lives in the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains with his wife Mary, & Auggie Dog, where they enjoy hiking.
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The process that renders
Community Found, is
an open engagement where
participants reconcile their stories
and reconfigure their lives towards
getting to good together.
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RDP
Community is formed when diverse participants enter and reconcile their stories together. This experience renders new understanding of self and others, which inspires participants to want what is good for each other. But many of us are caught by fast-think run fast races to get ahead, and see stories and others as obstacles, making collateral damages add up. The fast game is inefficient and unsustainable, and sacrifices both community and good outcomes. It's time to activate a process that gets us to good together--one that emerges from Community Found! The process is stories-telling.
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Good and efficient outcomes in organizations, businesses, cities, towns, etc., all emerge from inside a process of listening to, telling, and reconciling our stories together. Activating such a community-forming process is our top priority. While this may seem counterintuitive to many, the stories in this book provide compelling evidence that being in community is the key to our getting to good together. Discover what happens when a divided and left behind people with a single story of pervasive decline and a draining economy experience community together. Their process--a unique ritual practice of "stories-telling," lights a path towards shared goodness that others can follow.
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Through the eyes of Ronald Pate the reader discovers that inside this unitive process, every endeavor—from individual to institutional—comes together around what is genuinely good, and activates creative energies that cooperate rather than compete. This is no how-to formula, but a process that begins with wonder. --Come inside and see!
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Endorsements for Community Found
“Pate illustrates how authentic connection happens, and how that empowers growth and change... and success for all involved. I will highly recommend this book to CEOs, directors, and managers.” --William Zybach, Syngineering
“In this generative book, Ronald Pate convinces me that community is the key to…quality of life!” –Thomas Oord, director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology at Northwind Seminary.
“Pate’s book should be widely read… It provides a blueprint for healing the divide that is currently rupturing American society.” –Josh De Keijzer, PhD, The Netherlands, theologian and freelance writer.
"This book moves us past narrow unilateral attempts to fix what’s broken, to activating a collaborative partnership that moves towards restoration and wholeness. I hope this book sparks a revolution." --Arnold Askew, founder of Somatic Solutions, and Guild Certified in the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education
"Community Found offers not only insights into the art of communal respect and love, but also a reflective mirror of our own journey in pursuit of a world where everyone wins." --Celine Anelone Brozovich, CEO, BAYKENJI HEALTH LLC, Mukilteo, Washington
PROJECTS
Ron has directed community story projects, including the Kresge/Birmingham Cultural Alliance grant funded Woodlawn Stories & College Hills Stories. He's worked on projects in SC, NC & KY with Community Performance International/StoryBridge as a community research advisor, & guided a community group in a Story Vision process that led to the formation of the award-winning West Homewood Farmer's Market.
CLIENTS
Ron has utilized narrative processes in a variety of settings and disciplines, including higher education classes on social problems and social change, community development projects, facilitating vision for non-profits and religious organizations, and with the healthcare industry.
