‘Work Of Hope’ Author Rich Harwood to Deliver Keynote At Goodwill® Spring Conference

ROCKVILLE, MD — Rich Harwood, founder and president of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, will give the keynote address at Goodwill Industries International’s Spring Conference at the Hyatt on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Friday, May 17, from 8:30 a.m. – 9:10 a.m. ET. The theme of the conference, “Designing Goodwill Into the Future,” commemorates the 15th anniversary of Goodwill professionals convening to discuss issues, innovations and best practices concerning the social services they provide for people with disabilities and disadvantages.
Goodwill, most widely known for its stores across North America, is a social enterprise that offers community-based job training and placement and wrap-around services, such as child care, financial education, youth mentoring, transportation, and community living skills for more than six million people each year.
Harwood’s most recent book, The Work of Hope: How Individuals and Organizations Can Authentically Do Good, drew Goodwill’s attention when planning for the conference. Harwood coaches people and organizations as they work together to solve pressing problems and reinvent how they can better communicate and collaborate within their communities.
“Rich Harwood’s insightful and inspirational message will refuel, recharge and reenergize Goodwill professionals, while reminding them of the impact they have on individuals with vocational disadvantages each and every day,” said Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.
Harwood’s transformational work has spread to thousands of communities nationally and worldwide – from small towns to large cities – by applying concrete methods he created and honed over the past 25 years. These proven practices are based on hands-on work with individuals, organizations and communities in their quest to create change. Harwood’s talks, coaching techniques and practical guides have provided the hope and inspiration for individuals and groups to improve their public and private lives.
A visionary with the ability to help people identify obstacles and tap their aspirations, Harwood has inspired hundreds of audiences as he shares his philosophy of what it takes to be relevant and connected in today’s world.
A prolific author, Harwood’s books and guides include Make Hope Real and Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward. He has also written numerous studies and articles that chronicle the most vital issues of our time, and appeared on national media including CNN’s Inside Politics, MSNBC, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NPR, Special Report with Brit Hume and C-SPAN.