Points of Light’s Citizen Academy

As promised, we will be showcasing cool curriculum happenings on our ADP campuses; some of these, like our second featured course, may present new opportunities for our members.

About the Instructor
Brandon W. Kliewer, Ph.D is an assistant professor of civic engagement and interdisciplinary studies at Florida Gulf Coast University and instructor of the inaugural session of Points of Light’s Citizen Academy. He was also selected as the 2013 John Saltmarsh Award Recipient at the 2013 ADP national meeting.

Why Charitable Giving Won’t Save the World
The effectiveness of charitable giving to produce positive change is beginning to be questioned as wealth is controlled by a smaller group of people, wages remain stagnant for the average worker, and disinvestment of public institutions has become a standard custom of the American experience. The limitations of the current philanthropic model is generally highlighted on two general fronts.

First, common approaches to philanthropy disempower marginalized communities.

Philanthropic giving, from the rich to the poor, from those with to those without, treats the recipient as part of the problem instead of a key component of the solution.

Second, the philanthropic model is ineffective in producing lasting results because it perpetuates the essential structures that maintain unjust social, political, and economic relations.

Philanthropic giving is effective at reducing the suffering of marginalized communities, but allows the systems, organizations and institutions that produce unjust outcomes originally to remain essentially intact.

What Can You Do?
Sign up for a course this fall with a small cohort of your peers and dig deeper. Learn the methods of democratic engagement, critical thinking skills, and problem solving so that you are equipped to create sustainable change in your community and around the world.

Points of Light has partnered with Portland State University to offer a 3-credit pilot course entitled “Foundations of Community-Engaged Leadership.”The course will be live and online using an innovative real-time and interactive platform developed by LearnItLive.

What does it cost?
Pay what you can! If you want credits you will need to pay Portland State University money to receive those credits but at minimum you will need to pay $68 for the course reader and whatever contribution you can afford for Points of Light to help cover costs of this pilot program.

Come be a part of something big with us and we work to change the paradigm so that EVERYONE has access to the knowledge and skills for creating a better, more inclusive world!

Interested in Registration?
Please contact Tricia Thompson at tthompson@pointsoflight.org and she will get your signed up!

Class starts September 24th 2013 and runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 pm -6:45 pm ET.