Rob Corcoran visited Lagrange, Georgia
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Rob is the author of Trustbuilding: An Honest Conversation on RACE, RECONCILIATION, AND RESPONSIBILITY.
This is the model we adopted in Lagrange. Rob will also talk about how this model is being used around the world in other countries.
While in LaGrange, Rob was the guest speaker for the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce Early Bird Breakfast.
Rev. Carl Von Epps, Racial Trustbuilding Co-Chair, gave the invocation.
Rob Corcoran speaking to the Chamber audience.
Rev. Carl Von Epps, Rob Corcoran, and Chalton Askew,
Exec. Director of the local Racial Trustbuilding Initiative.
Rob was the Trustbuilding representative for the Leadership Troup Class October session, where they covered Social Issues.
The Trustbuilding Board and a few invited guests enjoyed dinner with Rob and a time discussing the Trustbuilding work in the local community. Everyone was able to ask questions about how this work is utilized around the world.
A session was held at Warren Temple United Methodist Church to give the public a chance to meet Rob and ask questions about the work of healing communities by having an honest conversation on Race, Reconciliation, and Responsibility.
About Rob
Rob Corcoran is a trainer, facilitator, writer, racial healing practitioner and international consultant who has led workshops and dialogues among diverse and polarized groups across North America and in Europe, South Africa, India, Australia and Brazil. From 2006 to 2016 he served as US national director of Initiatives of Change International (IofC), a global network of people of all faiths and social backgrounds dedicated to building bridges of trust across racial, religious, political, and class lines. In 1993, he founded Hope in the Cities, IofC’s national flagship program, based in Richmond, Virginia, site of the nation’s largest interstate slave market and capital of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Over three decades his team built a diverse network engaging all sectors and developed a nationally recognized model for dialogue, racial healing and partnership building.
The city has become a seedbed for honest dialogue and reconciliation with national and international implications. Richmond was the first US city to hold a public walk through its racial history and Virginia was the first state to apologize for its support of slavery. A sustained effort of dialogue, public forums and education engages city government, universities, business leaders, faith communities and nonprofit organizations. In recent years, Hope in the Cities initiated a metropolitan-wide campaign using census data and historical narrative to highlight how racialized policies have produced concentrated poverty. As a result, the city now hosts the nation’s first Office of Community Wealth Building.
Under Corcoran’s leadership, Hope in the Cities developed a residential fellowship program which has served community leaders from a dozen states. Key learning areas include: 1) The role of individuals in becoming authentic trustbuilders and agents of change; nurturing spiritual resources to sustain the work; 2) The power of history and memory in shaping community narratives and identity; creating spaces for healing and forgiveness; 3) Dialogue design to build trust and discern core issues; 4) Strategies to build diverse teams and networks across boundaries of race, culture, religion, and politics to build healthy, inclusive communities.
Corcoran has convened numerous national and international forums. He was a co-author of a dialogue guide for President Clinton’s race initiative. He consulted with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in the creation of its national Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation enterprise. He serves on the UNESCO Slave Route Project Task Force on Racial Healing, and the National Episcopal Church’s advisory committee for Beloved Community implementation.
Corcoran’s book, Trustbuilding: An Honest Conversation on Race, Reconciliation, and Responsibility, was published by University of Virginia Press. In his foreword, Governor (now Senator) Tim Kaine wrote, “Hope in the Cities has moved what looked like an immoveable barricade …. [and] has provided a map for the future.”
Initiatives of Change (IofC) has a hundred-year history of connecting personal and social change. In its early years, known as the Oxford Group, it provided the foundation for Alcoholics Anonymous. As Moral Re-Armament, it played a critical role in post-war Franco-German reconciliation, and in industrial relations in Europe and in the US. Today, IofC is at work in more than 40 countries with major conference centers in Switzerland and India. It involves people of all different faith traditions, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds.
Rob and wife, Susan, have three grown sons who all attended Richmond public schools. He and Susan now reside in Austin, Texas.