The Alliance
The Alliance, a civic network of institutions knitted together with social capital, exists in order to create a more effective living democracy within the regional corridor spanning Aspen to Parachute. This network will include churches, schools, governmental organizations such as cities, counties and sheriffs, and voluntary organizations such as Four H, Rotary, etc.
James Coleman defined social capital functionally as “a variety of entities with two elements in common: they all consist of some aspect of social structure, and they facilitate certain actions of actors...within the structure” – that is, social capital is anything that facilitates individual or collective action, generated by networks of relationships, reciprocity, trust, and social norms.
Communication is needed to access and use social capital through exchanging information, identifying problems and solutions, and managing conflict. The Alliance staff will use the well-established principals and practices of grassroots community organizing, building on what has already been established by previous efforts, to build this social capital. In this case the membership being organized are the significant institutions, represented by their leadership, and not individual people.
The Alliance organizer, Gwen Garcelon, will initially schedule one-on-ones with the leaders of the significant institutions in the extended valley. From the information gained in the one-on-ones, “house meetings” will be designed amongst institutions that show the most commonality. It is expected that Alliance leadership will be identified at this stage and will be developed further throughout the organizing process.
For more information on The Alliance please contact Morgan Jacober at (970) 309-1300