Civil Society Solutions

I launched this blog on my 55^th birthday two months ago, the same day I gave notice of my retirement from City government.

I became employed by Philadelphia City Council at age 34, after winning election as its youngest member. I have spent the prime years of my professional life there and I am grateful for that. To have the opportunity to create and impact municipal legislation in a major city for over two decades has been a blessing. I have helped to create more jobs, better wages and benefits, substantial investment in neighborhood economic development, fairer contracting and lending – and even fairer elections through campaign contribution limits, just to name a few things that I have accomplished over those years. I am proud of all of that, but that is also why I am leaving.

City government can do good things when political leaders choose to lead, but great impact can also be made in civil society from further building the capacity of nongovernmental organizations to lead on public policy matters. I will soon be more available to do that, among other things.

Last year, I decided to undertake coursework in public policy design and delivery, including innovation and scaling techniques, through Harvard Kennedy School’s Public Leadership Credential Program. There were case studies offered from around the world related to issues like poverty, education and economic development, as well as concrete analyses and solutions within each case study. That academic process was a reaffirmation for me that policymaking must always begin with the proper technical analysis to define the actual problem, all its root causes, and the multiple solutions that should be considered.

Too often, government tends to promote only one solution, even if it has considered many – with the hope that the one solution will be politically popular. But the overall public-policy making process can only improve if nongovernmental organizations continue to build their own capacity to weigh in on issues, based on their own independent analyses.  That is why I am retiring from City government … to help design civil society solutions.