Recently, I spoke with Joseph Porcelli about his efforts to develop social capital within neighborhood communities. Joseph combines a zeal for social capital with an amazing sense of humor.

In his day-job, Joseph works as a civilian coordinator for the Boston Police Department’s Neighborhood Watch Unit. He currently incorporates community-building and new-technology initiatives into the program.

In August of 2004, Joseph founded Neighbors for Neighbors (NFN) in response to crime in his neighborhood in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Four years later, NFN has grown into an organization that engages thousands of neighbors at Neighborhood Socials and Community Organizing Expos and created over 70 community groups that serve to keep neighbors together.

Joseph has gained international recognition for the Nametag Project and the Mug Project.

BS: You say that “everybody can make a difference.” What does that mean to you, and can you provide a few examples you’ve seen in NFN where that’s been especially true?

JP: Absolutely. Everybody can make a difference!  We all have the capacity, and we want to contribute. What I’ve learned from my work leading Neighbors for Neighbors is that when you give people a chance to connect, they become interested. If you provide them with simple actionable steps, they will (more often than not) take them.

BS: You’ve told me that your interest in local social capital began with a class project. Tell me a little bit about that project and the impact it had on you.

JP: In 2004, a class required me to create a gift to the community as a reflection of a value that inspired us. At that point, two of my neighbors had been violently assaulted. I made my project about connecting and empowering my neighbors. Our community felt frightened and helpless. I handed out 500 flyers at the T station: informing my neighbors of the problem; explaining  what they could do about; inviting them to a community meeting. From these efforts, people felt informed and empowered.

Additionally, the course taught me to facilitate new possibilities for the community. So, I constantly asked, “what should we do next?” and “what’s missing?” People said, “we should do a neighborhood social next . . . so we can meet the rest of our neighbors.” After the social they said, “we should have an organizing meeting where we should create groups so we can stay together.” Then, they said “we should build a website to support our efforts.”

I had no idea what the heck I was doing. I just kept asking “what next” questions. So essentially the community led, and I facilitated. Cool huh!

BS: In 2004, you started Neighbors for Neighbors, which began connecting  your neighbors through neighborhood socials and helping them create community projects that kept them together. How have online social networking tools sustained your organization and its growth?

JP: What Neighbors for Neighbors is committed to, and the resources we have available to us, are very different and not even close to what we need. We are all volunteers, and we operate on a budget of about $2,000 a year funded by people getting a $121 discount at Mike’s Fitness when they donate $15 to us.  Ideally, we’d like a paid, event director, program manager, and admin.

So in place of monetary and human capital, we leverage technology to create the best systems we can. In other words, our members invest their time and passion into our network. Then, network cranks out multiples of everyone’s efforts. Online social networking tools allow myself and our communication board chair to “get out of the way.” Before these tools, everything had to flow through one of us. We nearly killed ourselves trying to keep up with all of the announcements. We were the bottleneck.

Now, we’re out of the way and the technology is in place. Everyone has become much happier, and the organization now runs itself online.

BS: You’ve been involved in many fun, unconventional projects-such as the Nametag Project and the Mug Project. How do see unconventional humor and ice breaking fitting with community building?

JP: I’m a really busy guy. These projects are on-top of my full-time job. I burned out really bad about a year ago. That’s when I decided that I have to make it all fun.

Humor helps people let their guards down and makes content more authentic. The “Don’t cheat on your mug video” still makes me laugh.

There are many great and serious causes out there. It’s hard to get your message noticed. So, we have a little fun. We let people know that we are human, just like them. In turn, they relate to us. I believe our humor increases participation.

I use humor to catch attention and cause people think about changing their behavior-whether it’s wearing a nametag to encourage neighbors to talk to each other or using a mug to reduce waste.

BS: Neighbor for Neighbors now attracts thousands of volunteers within the Jamaica Plain area. Would you please share a story or two of moments where the group has exceeded your expectations?

JP: Let me tell you about two groups.

Jamaica Plain Trees started a couple of year ago. They wanted to plant more trees. They had only a handful of members. Two year later, they planted over 200 trees in Jamaica Plain and have about 40 members. I also believe they influenced the mayor’s decision to commit to 100,000 trees by 2010. Just awesome!

The JP Women’s Group, now the Boston Women’s Group, started about a year ago. They wanted to create an inclusive and open group for gay/queer women. Within months, they had 400 members and couldn’t say “no” to other women in Boston who wanted to join.. Now they have over 1,200 fabulous women and have had 163 meet ups.

Both of these groups came to one of our community organizing expos, where they launched and totally flourished. I guess you could say we’re a Social Capital VC incubator.  “How-ya-doin?!”

I’m really proud to have been a part of helping these folks transform their visions into action that make a difference for our community.
BS: You’ve been involved with launching neighborhood watch programs as well as community events and socials. At first, these two events seem really different-one is designed to reduce risk and the other to promote connections. What have you learned from both of those networks and what do you plan to implement in the future?

JP: Traditionally, Neighborhood Watch has been focused solely on crime and reporting crime to officers. What I’ve learned is that for the groups to be sustainable, they need to incorporate fun and social activities. On the other hand, socializing is fun a couple of times, but the group needs a passion, interest, or issues to stay focused. It’s been great observing from the process from both sides, and I’ve been able to assimilate lessons and make stronger programs.

BS: In addition to your work with Neighbors for Neighbors, you work with the Boston Police Department as a civilian program coordinator for the Neighborhood Watch program. Part of that project seems to require building trust between neighbors as well as increasing the level trust between the community and the police department. What insights have you learned?

JP: Fear plays a huge role, and it greatly influences how the community experiences and deals with crime. Often times, the community will work itself up into a panic, because they lack facts. Then, anxiety sets in. To deal with this, the Boston Police Department focuses on developing relationships and rapport-which builds trust over time. Communication is key, but more importantly, we are most effective when we give the community tools to help themselves and our enforcement efforts.

BS: What have you learned about social capital that you wish everyone else knew?

JP: Social Capital is a community’s most important asset. Take away the fancy homes, cars, clothing, iPhones, etc. What are you left with, people. No matter what, we always have the capacity to make a difference. It comes down to remembering you have a choice. It’s easy to embed community-building choices into our daily routines, culture, and politics. Go Service Nation!

BS: Do you encounter people who are resistant to getting involved with their community? If so, how do you help them over that?

JP: There are three common reasons people are resistant.

• They think they don’t have enough time or that it’s not worth allocating time;
• They don’t see themselves relating to the topic or issue; or
• They perceive somehow they are not invited or good enough.

I find it’s important to repeat messages and invitations to people who are “on the fence”. Then, I go to the event myself. We collect photos and videos, which make it easier for people to envision themselves participating.

But, you know the most effective way? I have a conversation with them. I listen to their objections and obstacles, and I let them know that I’ve heard what they said. Often, when people know they’ve been heard, they become willing to consider new possibilities and will call themselves to action.

BS: What sustains your passion in developing communities?

JP: I lost a very dear friend to suicide a couple of years ago. I believe that if he had a community of friends that new what was going on with him he might still be here. My work honors his life.

Everything becomes possible when we come together. I see this over and over again every day.  My life’s value come from my service to my community. I love working with and learning from the incredible people I work with, and I really dig playing with new technology that creates efficiencies and produces social capital.

Some people spend their lives making and investing money to become rich. I am spending my life developing social and technology systems that produce social capital so we all can live rich lives.

BS: How can people get in touch with you?

People can write me at josephporcelli (at) gmail (dot) com or through www.josephporcelli.com

BS:  You’ve said that Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone inspired you to become active in building social capital within communities. I know many have read that book, but they haven’t taken action. Tell me about your experience. What inspired you to act?

DC: Well, I suppose my previous work in the nonprofit sector pre-conditioned me to be receptive to the message.  I read the final chapter of Bowling Alone on a flight to San Francisco, and I was ready to jump off the plane to get to work addressing the problems Professor Putnam describes in the book.

I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with that energy at first.  My wife and I had recently bought our first home in Woburn, MA.  I had a desire to reconnect and get involved in this community I grew up in but hadn’t lived in a dozen years.  I found challenges to getting connected in a meaningful way, and also noted that the community was growing much more diverse and different in many ways than the place I grew up.  I had an “Aha” moment of my own when I saw that the best way I could address the big issues in Bowling Alone was by starting locally in my hometown.

BS: In 2002, you launched the first SCI initiative in Woburn, Massachusetts, and you’re now also operating in Dorchester and Lynn. Why have you chosen these three communities-what stood out for you? Did you see a specific need in these communities?

DC: As I noted, choosing Woburn as the starting point was pretty easy, as doing this work in my hometown was very much wrapped up with my general motivation to address this issue.

Leveraging our own social capital has been a big part of finding new locations to work with.  We had grant support to replicate our program somewhere within the city of Boston; networking for a neighborhood and organizational partner led me to Bill Walczak of the Codman Square Health Center.  He made a good case that Dorchester was a great place for us to work.

We got a bit more systematic in searching for our third location.  Our board believed that there was a lot of potential for SCI in very diverse, mid-sized urban communities in Massachusetts.  That narrowed our list, and we chose Lynn because the city had recently done a community survey that made a great case for SCI to work there.  In particular, most residents indicated that hadn’t been involved much in their neighborhood but were interested in becoming active.

BS: You have brought a number of youths into leadership programs and given them many opportunities to build marketplace skills while serving their community. Tell us about some of your successful program alumni.

DC: Joao Ramos is one that comes to mind.  He started with SCI in Dorchester in the summer of 2007, as part of a summer jobs program where we trained youth in technology and outreach skills to work on our community website.   Joao already had developed an interest in computers, and he really thrived in our program as it gave him a platform to further develop his skills while serving his community. Joao, originally from Cape Verde, got to sharpen his communication skills too as he has spent much of his time with SCI doing presentations about the organization and our website.  Though I’m sure there are a lot of local companies that would like to recruit Joao, we convinced him to stay with us for a year of AmeriCorps service.

BS: Over the past six years, have you seen social capital within Woburn, Dorchester, and Lynn change? What impact have you been able to make?

DC: Numbers are of course important.  We document over 10,000 individuals each year participating in civic life.   75% of those in our network say they are more civically active because of SCI, and over half say they have met new people in their community.

But it’s often the stories that best show the impact.  The vitality in Downtown Woburn for WorldFest, or people of diverse backgrounds throughout the community coming together for MyDorchester night.

Sometimes it’s the stories of connecting neighbors.  For instance, around the time of the first snowfall last winter, I got a call from someone from out of state.  She was worried about her elderly father, living alone in Woburn and recovering from surgery.  Knowing that her Dad had a stubborn streak, she was worried that he’d still try to shovel his own snow if he didn’t get some help!  We posted this concern to our community website & our weekly eblast.  Within 24 hours, I was contacted by Jim, one of the gentleman’s neighbors who read about this need.  Though Jim was a bit sheepish that he had never met this neighbor in the years he had lived on the street, Jim was more than happy to use his snowblower to take care of his neighbors driveway now that he knew of this neighbor in need.

BS: You’ve built partnerships with a number of service groups-such as AmeriCorps, the Boston Globe Foundation, and the Massachusetts Service Alliance-how have you gone about building partnerships (themselves a form of social capital)?

DC: We definitely are conscious of leveraging our social capital in terms of how we run the organization, including gaining support for our work.  I was re-connecting with a former colleague when he introduced me to the Executive Director of the Globe Foundation, Leah Bailey.  Fortunately, they were also embarking upon a new funding strategy that emphasized long-term relationships, so we started a conversation that day that has continued over the past 5 years.  A key point here is that we have found partners that share our commitment to relationship building.

I’d say it’s easier to think about how leveraging one’s social network can lead to new contacts, but takes more discipline to continuously nurture those relationships so that one is truly building up a stock of social capital upon which one can draw in the future.

BS: You’ve made community-based social capital an important part of your life. What insights have gained through your work with SCI?

DC: Our son, turning three this week, arrived in the midst of this journey of creating SCI.  It definitely adds a new level of meaning to feel like I’m enriching the community he’ll grow up in through the work I’m doing.  And it already has some very tangible benefits.  For instance, we love going as a family to the summer concert series we do in Downtown Woburn.  In addition to exposing him to an eclectic array of music, it’s a great way to connect with fellow community members.  Downtown Woburn is a place we tended to stay away from when I was growing up, so it is exciting to see the city center now have so much to offer families.

BS: What are the next steps for SCI? How do you plan to expand your reach and impact?

DC: We’re always interested in expanding our network of people interested in our work, so I’d love to hear from any of your readers who want to learn more. We’re going to be working over the next year or so in documenting our curriculum and best practices such that we are in position to be helpful to communities interested in doing similar work…so stay tuned for that!  More at http://socialcapitalinc.org.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t make a shameless plug for the full-time AmeriCorps positions we currently have open.  AmeriCorps is a great way to gain valuable experience while serving the community; and our positions provide a great entrée into social capital and fields such as community development, youth work and community technology.

David’s Bio:

As the founder of SCI, David has become a national leader in exploring how communities can systematically and intentionally weave stronger social fabrics connecting its members. David brings over fifteen years of leadership in the nonprofit sector. Prior to starting SCI, David served as Executive Director of Generations Incorporated, which under his leadership grew into a national model for intergenerational programming. He also started and directed the Kentucky Community Service Commission.  David has written and presented extensively on subjects related to civic engagement, community building and technology.  David graduated from Harvard College in 1991 with an A.B. in Government,

You can read the social capital interview here.

One of the joys of blogging has been the ability to connect with people across the world. It allows us to connect so many people whom we’d not meet otherwise. Shared common interests allow us to build and sustain global relationships.

Have a good week ahead, everyone.

You can check out the interview here.

Rajesh and I have been good friends for many years, and we’ve collaborated on a number of projects. His blog is quite active and he focuses on the related topic of personal branding. I encourage you to check his blog out. You won’t be disappointed.