About the Power of One

About Power of One Publishing

Power of One Publishing recognizes, promotes, and networks civic and social entrepreneurs and their initiatives. Through publications, books, the Internet, and media promotion efforts, the company offers important new insights as well as a platform for these highly effective, low-cost, and groundbreaking cures that address America's toughest social problems.

The Power of One web site was created as a result of Debra Berg's research for the book The Power of ONE. The research was launched in 1994 after Debra, an entrepreneur and former policy analyst in Minneapolis-St. Paul, was approached by a couple on a Humphrey fellowship who had helped orchestrate the overthrow of Nicoli Ceaucescu. The couple was anxious to learn about democracy and business in the U.S. as a result of their involvement with grassroots leaders during the 1989 revolution. They and Debra struck up a friendship and their insatiable curiosity about the health of America's communities fueled Debra's interest in alternative strategies for solving America's social problems. Debra's subsequent 8-year research effort across the U.S. resulted in the book, The Power of ONE: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America's Cities, an on-going research effort, and assistance to not-for-profit initiatives and their leaders across America and around the world.

The overall mission of this site is to:

Recognize and promote individuals who have engineered solutions to chronic social problems.

Educate and encourage elected officials and the public to recognize civic entrepreneurs and their successful innovations as viable alternatives to less effective social programs.

Encourage the formation of new social solutions and the replication of successful ones.

Provide support to these initiatives by educating civic entrepreneurs on their financing options and other available technical assistance to help fuel their initiatives.

In the early nineties, a highly publicized Ivy League study, Bowling Alone, predicted the demise of civic America. Believing otherwise, Debra launched her research focusing on social solutions founded by individuals and staffed by all-volunteer armies. Based on her personal contacts and knowledge of founders of not for profit groups in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN she learned of many more solutions already in existence nationwide.

Since then, the research effort has uncovered a vast array of highly successful but often overlooked social solutions launched by civic entrepreneurs. These projects are both effective and compassionate. Since the 1980's, many of the projects have been replicated across America and around the globe. Based on her research, proving both their growth and successful track records, Debra concludes that civic America is not dying. The real "behind the scenes" facts about America's active civic community have simply gone unreported.

Since most of these projects are funded from private sources, little statistical information is available on them. If more tedious research methods are not employed, the facts about these groups remain virtually transparent to policy analysts, academics, legislators, and the press. As a result, the impact and success rates of these projects are grossly underestimated and have generally gone unrecognized.

The primary purpose of the Power of ONE web site is to recognize, promote, and network these projects and their founders, civic entrepreneurs. Through ongoing research efforts, the hope is that these not-for-profit solutions will acquire greater viability and credibility.

As a secondary goal, the Power of ONE strives to assist the individual founders and their groups with information about financial and technical assistance. Assisting groups in these areas facilitates growth and eventual replication and allows them to better reach those in need.

Third, Power of ONE research, public presentations, and this web site educate civic-minded citizens and policymakers on the value of social solutions created by civic entrepreneurs. Information is also made available to budding civic entrepreneurs who want to replicate an already successful project or to engineer one of their own. In addition, the research is made available to established civic entrepreneurs who desire to expand an existing, successful social solution. New research findings on civic entrepreneurial projects are regularly posted to this site.

Debra always seeks new ways to recognize these unselfish, compassionate Americans. They are the catalysts behind the cures for many social ills, the bedrock of our present civil society, and the underlying hope for democracy on into the 21st century.

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