Cornell hosts talk by community development expert Luther Snow

MOUNT VERNON — Luther Snow, a nationally known community and faith-based organizer, will speak Wednesday, April 18, at Cornell College on “The Larger Whole: What We Learn About Justice From Networks.”

His talk is at 3:30 p.m. in Hedges Conference Room of The Commons. Admission is free.

Snow is a member of the teaching faculty of the Asset Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University. He is the author of several books on faith-based organizing, including “The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts.”

A graduate of Harvard College and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Snow spent 15 years in inner-city Chicago neighborhoods as an organizer and economic developer with grassroots organizations of people of color. Living the past 15 years in Decorah, Snow has been a leader of the shift in the rural development field toward a positive, asset-based approach. He is an expert in the practical application of network theory and asset theory to civic engagement in college and university contexts. His clients also include philanthropies, public officials and local and national faith organizations.

Cornell’s Project on Civic Engagement and the department of sociology and anthropology are the primary sponsors of Snow’s visit.

To learn more, go to http://home.earthlink.net/~lutherksnow/