Athens, Ga. – A leading proponent of helping citizens create positive change will be the speaker at this year’s Morris W.H. Collins Jr. Distinguished Practitioner Lecture on Wednesday, April 5, at 1 p.m. at the Classic Center in Athens. The lecture, cosponsored by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government and School of Public and International Affairs, is free and open to the public.
Richard C. Harwood is the founder and president of the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation and author of Hope Unraveled: The People’s Retreat and Our Way Back. For nearly two decades, Harwood has led efforts to redeem public trust in politics and develop new kinds of leaders and civic-minded organizations across the country. His past experience includes service on the policy staffs of U.S. presidential and congressional election campaigns and as director of issues research for Public Agenda, a nonprofit organization. He has also been a consultant on effective governance to mayors and nongovernmental organizations located in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Morris W.H. Collins Jr. was the first director of the Institute of Government and helped start the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. He was instrumental in work to improve the efficiency of Georgia state government under three governors – Ernest Vandiver, Carl Sanders and Jimmy Carter. He was also founding director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.
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