The Houston Food Bank (HFB) is the largest food bank in the United States by volume, distributing nearly 150 million nutritious meals annually to neighbors across 18 counties in Southeast Texas. But HFB is more than a food distribution center—it’s a hub for innovation, equity, and systemic change.

With over 90% of its food rescued from retail and commercial partners, HFB’s model is rooted in sustainability. Its logistics are world-class, but its strategy is people-first: linking food security with deeper investments in dignity, policy change, and long-term community well-being.

Matthew Desmond doesn’t just write about poverty — he exposes it. In Poverty, by America, he makes the case that poverty persists not because we lack resources or ideas, but because the system is designed to protect the comfort of some at the expense of others. This is not a book about the poor. It’s a book about us — and the choices we make, knowingly or not, that allow poverty to survive in one of the wealthiest nations in history.

Across history and ideologies, people have used nonviolent action to shape their societies. From Gandhi’s Salt March to the ADA movement and the Tea Party, peaceful resistance has transformed laws, norms, and opportunities for millions. This paper explores how nonviolent civic engagement works across multiple pathways—from addressing food insecurity and inequality to expanding democracy and reimagining public access.

Drawing on research by Erica Chenoweth, we show that nonviolent strategies are not only morally grounded—they are strategically effective, and invite widespread participation from people of all ages, beliefs, and abilities.

The Change Lab and Listen First are deeply aligned in mission and method. Both believe that systems change begins with relational culture—and that connection across difference is both a practice and a movement. Listen First provides vital infrastructure and national amplification for bridge-building work already happening in communities like ours.

The Change Lab exists to cultivate civic imagination and collective action. Gamestorming 2.0 offers the facilitation tools to help us get there—by helping people connect across difference, think in systems, and create shared pathways forward. Whether designing workshops, guiding coalitions, or prototyping new futures, this book is a core tool in our civic toolkit.

In a moment of deep cultural and personal reflection, writer and activist adrienne maree brown invites us into The Hope Portal — a moving audio and written journal hosted by On Being. This series is an intimate exploration of grief, possibility, imagination, and transformation. Through poetic insight and grounded wisdom, adrienne guides listeners into deeper questions about what it means to hope, heal, and build a more loving world — together.

Join us for a free 90-minute webinar, Expanding the Impact of the Pluralism Movement on Social Media, on Monday, June 23rd at 2:00pm ET. Based on insights from a year-long study of the pluralism movement’s digital footprint, this session is designed for communications professionals and organizational leaders seeking actionable strategies to harness social media more strategically, boost digital impact, and make their mission resonate with new audiences.

LISC Houston is the local office of the national nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which supports community development in underinvested neighborhoods. LISC Houston partners with local leaders, residents, and organizations to amplify grassroots power, grow economic opportunity, and support equitable development. Their mission is to equip communities with the capital, strategies, and relationships needed to thrive—on their own terms.

Seth Kaplan’s Fragile Neighborhoods makes a powerful case that some of our biggest national challenges — disconnection, distrust, division — are playing out most clearly in our neighborhoods. And more importantly, that these same neighborhoods hold the answers we’ve been searching for.

He doesn’t offer quick fixes. Instead, he invites us to zoom in — to the street, the school, the church, the local nonprofit — and ask: How strong are the relationships here? Who feels seen? Who’s left out? It’s a deeply human approach that resonates with everything we’re trying to do at The Change Lab.

All In Together (AIT) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization advancing women’s civic and political leadership across the United States. Founded in 2014, AIT empowers women from all backgrounds—regardless of political affiliation—to become confident and effective advocates in their communities, workplaces, and public life.

With a deep commitment to equity and democracy, AIT brings civic education and leadership development directly to communities that have been historically excluded from power, especially women of color, rural women, and those in low-income and underrepresented regions.

Founded by New York Times columnist David Brooks in 2018, WEAVE: The Social Fabric Project is an initiative of the Aspen Institute working to address America’s crisis of broken trust and social fragmentation. Born out of a national listening tour and guided by a deeply relational ethos, WEAVE exists to support people who prioritize connection, community, and belonging in their daily lives.

From neighborhood leaders and faith organizers to barbers, coaches, and volunteers, WEAVE uplifts these “weavers”—people who stitch their communities together through acts of trust and care. WEAVE supports them through storytelling, skill-building, funding, and connection, helping foster a culture that values relationships as much as results.

The Eviction Lab, founded by sociologist Matthew Desmond, is the first nationwide database of eviction records in the United States. But more than just a research initiative, it’s a powerful act of truth-telling — putting numbers to the reality that millions of Americans are pushed from their homes each year, often invisibly.