Description:

Title: "Community Empowerment: Celebrating the Work of John McKnight"

A visionary in community organizing and civil rights, John McKnight (d. 2024) spent much of his career at Northwestern and the Center for Urban Affairs (now the Institute for Policy Research), advancing what he termed “asset-based” approaches to community development. His philosophy centered on a simple yet revolutionary premise: that all communities have inherent strengths and resources that they can leverage to create lasting, self-sustaining change. This approach, later formalized as the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) model, shifted how practitioners, researchers, and policymakers engage with communities. Join us for a panel with three of his former colleagues and IPR’s director, who will discuss his enduring legacy and influence.

Speakers:

Rob Donahue, Director of Northwestern's Center for Civic Engagement (CCE)

Dan Lewis, Northwestern Professor Emeritus and IPR Faculty Emeritus

Andrew Gordon, University of Washington Professor Emeritus and IPR Faculty Emeritus

Andrew Papachristos (moderator), IPR Director and the John G. Searle Professor of Sociology

Location: Chambers Hall

This event is part of the Fay Lomax Cook Spring 2025 Colloquium Series, where our researchers from around the University share their latest policy-relevant research.

Please note all colloquia this quarter will be held in-person only.