Taking Stock of IAF

Frank C. Pierson, Jr.

As still another electoral cycle in the USA  plays out, questions again arise about the consequences of a process driven by ever bigger donors, inane campaigns and zero clarity from candidates about how to pull the nation together.  

Rather than abandoning hope, it’s a good a time to consider what IAF brings to the table of democratic renewal. 

Six major strengths of IAF are generalizable network wide:

IAF organizations are built on face-to-face relationships.

IAF’s focus on face-to-face relationships grounds network organizations in local needs,  interests, institutions and money.

IAF organizations consistently initiate, sustain and evaluate creative solutions to complex, even apparently intractable, problems.

IAF organizations are obsessive about understanding power relationships in order to fight for recognition and strategic advantage.

IAF organizations sharpen the tension between the values of member institutions and their real world behavior.

IAF organizations invest in the development of the skills of leaders and organizers, conceptual and practical, that translate into public action, evaluation and reflection.