Author Bio

Richard A. Couto is a professor in the Ph.D. Program in Leadership and Change at Antioch University. His most recent book, Making Democracy Work Better: Mediating Structures, Social Capital and the Democratic Prospect, won the 2000 Virginia A. Hodgkinson Research Prize of Independent Sector.

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Main Description

Democracy needs the extraordinary efforts of ordinary people. The experiences of the twelve creative community health leaders, which this book presents, provide excellent examples of innovative democratic leadership. To Give Their Gifts recaptures the neglected narratives of democracy. It places community and mutual responsibility for one another at the center of democratic leadership, explains health care as social justice, and asserts the belief that everyone has the "gifts"--and the right--to contribute to community.

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Reviews

A brilliant piece of work, and one that not only adds new dimensions to our thinking about leadership but also tailors it to the community health field with wonderful and inspiring stories.
--Meredith Minkler, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

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The importance of the programs so vividly described in this important book-what they stand for, what they have accomplished, what it takes to make them work-cannot be overstated. Besides the powerful narrations of 'ordinary people' confronting very real and human situations, their accounts describe effective strategies that work, even in the most difficult situations. The verification of how actual change can take place at the grass-roots level is especially relevant in this post-September 11 era.
--Edward J. Eckenfels,Emeritus Professor, Rush Medical College

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Extras

Read a sample.