WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
Bradford Visiting with one of ACORN’s newest emerging branches in Bradford, a unique, mid-sized, growing former mill town in England’s north, not far from Leeds, was fascinating. Leaving the train with Kat Wright, ACORN UK’s field director, we walked through the center of town and then up the hill past colleges and universities until …
Sheffield There were people there from towns that I recognized, but had never been like Oxford, Liverpool, Cornwall, Cambridge, and Haringey. Others were from cities where I had visited our branches before in Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Brighton, Newcastle, and of course Sheffield, which was hosting the conference at St. Mary’s near the center …
Sheffield It’s not a busman’s tour, because it’s more like train hopping or something. I’m not sure what to call breakfast in Brighton, lunch in Leeds, and dinner in Sheffield? Whatever the name, it couldn’t have been clearer that with organizers, there is nothing that beats face-to-face, person-to-person to really get a grip on …