Hobart and William Smith Colleges
IN-27: Innovation D

Building upon a broader range of issues centered on sustainable communities, Tools for Social Change is an innovative civic engagement collective comprised of a group of Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ students, faculty, and staff, as well as Geneva community members. This group is committed to a democratic forum of open dialogue and community building, and strives for systemic, structural, change-based approaches to injustice. The group aims to address salient issues of race, class, gender, and other inequalities in the Geneva community.

Tools for Social Change emerged in the fall of 2014 as many of the Black Lives Matter protests took place across the nation. Faculty in the HWS Philosophy and Education departments, along with staff in the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL) office, created a unique service-learning and community dialogue initiative to help address the nationally reaching issues.

Since February 2015, a diverse group of Genevans have met weekly (more than 150 people have participated at least once). First, the group went through six weeks of intergroup dialogue in order to explore issues of race, class, and white privilege. Then the group identified action areas they wanted to pursue. There are now, at the grassroots level, several vibrant all-volunteer working groups addressing political representation, food deserts and nutrition, community relations, and other emerging ideas. Participants have included the Mayor of Geneva, several current city councilors, citizens running for City Council, the police chief, staff from the Office of Neighborhood Initiatives, members of the local NAACP, City Comprehensive Plan Committee members, and other community leaders. Participants of all ages and background have begun important community building work through the innovative group known as Tools for Social Change.

Two of the most notable accomplishments from this group include impact on both city politics and policy making. First, the local election for all City Councilor seats and Mayor took place over fall 2015, but limited public debates or other means by which citizens could learn about candidates in person were scheduled. Tools for Social Change identified this lack of transparency in city politics and led the coordination, planning, and hosting of multiple non-partisan candidates’ nights events. Secondly, the City of Geneva is currently updating its Comprehensive Plan to help guide the path of City government for the next 10-15 years. However, many people throughout the City did not know about the process, and the Comprehensive Plan Committee was struggling with how to receive feedback from diverse groups throughout the city. Tools for Social Change advocated for increased participation in the Comprehensive Planning process and the Comprehensive Plan Committee agreed to partner. The two groups decided to hold and record dialogue circles community wide. These dialogue circles, called “Big Talk in the Little City,” asked specific questions about residential, commercial, public, and occupational spaces and land usage in Geneva. The concerns and ideas gleaned from these dialogues have informed the city comprehensive planning process, as well as the policy decisions elected leaders will make for the next 10-15 years. Developing themes of interest and action areas from the dialogues thus far include:
• public funding and human resources for a civil service exam tutoring and mentoring program for persons of color
• allocation of at least 2-3 paid employment positions in city government to people of color
• working with the City of Geneva to organize and support a city-wide tenants’/renters association to advocate for fair housing practices
• working with the City of Geneva to organize for and support the creation of a resident owned healthy food co-op grocery store in the 6th Ward
• working with the City of Geneva to push the Regional Transit System (RTS) to increase the number of food bags allowed on the bus from 2 to at least 3

Tools for Social Change is an innovative initiative that started with an idea for deeper community dialogue about challenging issues. It has blossomed into a creative, diverse, robust, and influential group of concerned citizens advocating for positive change in their city. Tools for Social Change will continue to evolve and adapt to current issues and areas of need in order to improve the quality of life for the residents of the City of Geneva, visitors, and those in the surrounding area.