Rich Harwood Returns to Suncoast for Inspiring Community Conversations

Bestselling author, speaker and innovator Rich Harwood will visit the region for a pair of inspirational conversations around the community’s shared aspirations and the positive change they can help create. The community has two opportunities to participate in these conversations, which are free to attend thanks to generous support from The Patterson Foundation:

• Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 4:30 - 6 p.m. at DeSoto Middle School
• Wednesday, Nov. 30 from 8 - 9:30 a.m. at Hyatt Regency Sarasota (breakfast provided)

Harwood is the president and founder of The Harwood Institute, a nonprofit that teaches and coaches people and organizations to solve complex challenges and change how communities work together. For more than 30 years, he has innovated and developed a new philosophy and practice of how communities can solve pressing issues, create a culture of shared responsibility and deepen people’s civic faith. Harwood has helped people in communities work together to overcome immense challenges using this approach. He is the author of the Amazon bestseller, Stepping Forward, and the newly released, Unleashed: A Proven Way Communities Can Spread Change and Make Hope Real for All.

“I have a long connection with the Suncoast and a deep affection for it,” said Rich Harwood, president and founder of The Harwood Institute. “Now is a crucial time to engage people both around the challenges they face and the opportunities to build hope.”

Harwood’s visit is part of his national “Healing & Hope Tour,” which is helping Americans create a hopeful path forward together by focusing on what matters most and getting in motion to create meaningful, lasting change. Through the tour, Harwood shares concrete ways for people and groups in communities nationwide to begin working together with a focus on what they share in common and what they hope to create. Harwood will be on hand following both events to sign copies of “Stepping Forward” and “Unleashed,” which The Patterson Foundation will provide for free to attendees.

“We can be the architects of our future or the tenants of change — that happens when we engage,” said Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation. “Rich has worked masterfully with communities nationwide to help them uncover and work toward their shared aspirations. We look forward to the new possibilities these conversations will spark in the hearts of those who take part in them.”

The speaking events are presented through Aspirations to Actions, an initiative of The Patterson Foundation providing opportunities for communities in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties to take shared aspirations and turn them into actions that will result in positive change. Harwood has supported Aspirations to Actions’ work for more than a decade by visiting our region to meet with local leaders and facilitate community conversations.

Register to attend these inspiring community conversations here.

Register to attend the Harwood Alumni Luncheon here.