Networking for Recovery

By: Stuart Comstock-Gay In: 2009 Fall Conference

5 Oct 2009

Ed DeSeve, senior advisor of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act speaks at the Council's 2009 Fall Conference

Ed DeSeve, senior advisor for the Recovery Act Implementation, speaks at the Council's 2009 Fall Conference

Ed DeSeve, senior advisor on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, spoke Sunday afternoon and provided a roadmap for engaging with the government on the stimulus package. And while the details are useful, his overall theme is more important–the work of the recovery act, he emphasized, is a partnership, involving federal, state, and local government, and others, including community foundations.

Two of DeSeve’s comments about the act stand out for me. The first is that in DeSeve’s conception of the recovery act, it is not a platform, it is a network. That network involves all of the partners, sharing ideas and information to make the best use of the funding. Those of us in foundations need to learn to think of our work in that way, too.

The second comment that stopped me short–DeSeve flipped the old “anti-government” mantra that government is not the answer. Indeed it’s not, agreed DeSeve, but by building networks and partnerships, the government will help to find the answers, strengthen communities, and create jobs.

Stuart Comstock-Gay is president and CEO of The Vermont Community Foundation.

2 Responses to Networking for Recovery

lew feldstein

October 6th, 2009 at 11:50 am

agree: govt may not be THE answer, but no way we’re going to turn this around without govt

Stuart Comstock-Gay

October 6th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

Right on. Without government this wouldn’t even be a discussion - we’d be, in my view, in a Hobbesian scramble for survival. We as a field should really find ways to defend government-as-government, and fight for that, while recognizing that they’re not the solution in an of themselves.

Networking for Recovery

2 Responses to Networking for Recovery

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