David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, recently wrote about “Localism”, the belief that what really matters in politics and life is happening at the local level. Brooks speaks of Localism as flipping the power structure, from national abstractions to tangible local needs, from the impersonal to the relational. I was reminded of Brook’s column when I read Mayor Catherine Pugh’s op ed in this past Sunday’s Sun envisioning how Baltimore’s $30M Choice Neighborhood Grant will transform our East Side.The Mayor’s East Side initiative gives one of Baltimore’s most disadvantaged communities the opportunity to reimagine itself. It is a bold and exciting and rare opportunity for our city.

I was reminded of Brook’s column because he took the unusual the tact of highlighting not the relative effectiveness of local vs. national politics, but of focusing on what, or more accurately, who, was enabling local communities to transform themselves. He recounted how Deborah Frieze, in a TEDx talk, identified the actors, literally the personalities that are having the greatest impact on local communities and how their interrelationship drives change. She spoke of critical social roles that individuals and organizations have in effecting local change:

• The Walk Outs – “those who leave the legacy system and pioneer new alternatives”
• The Illuminators – those who analyze and shed light on the changes that are possible or underway
• The Elders –those in power because of their positions in government, business, education, nonprofits – but more importantly those who support from their positions of power the Walk Outs in their efforts to reinvent and reform
• The Network Entrepreneurs – those who connect the Walk Outs and provide them resources and support, who ensure they don’t give up

Brooks highlights that Localism isn’t about doing things the same way, seeing issues through the same lens, marshalling the same usual suspects to the task at hand. Baltimore’s East Side redevelopment allows us a rare chance to reimagine our future in an equitable and inclusive way. It also offers us a rare chance to rethink how we tackle this future. As Brooks concludes, “Localism stands for the idea that there is no one set of solutions to diverse national problems. Instead, it brings conservatives and liberals together around the thought that people are happiest when their lives are enmeshed in caring face-to-face relationships, building their communities together.”

Let’s hope that Baltimore takes full advantage of the opportunity we face in East Baltimore by reimagining how we fully engage the broadest community possible in our collective future. Let’s start by figuring out which Walk Outs we’re missing, let’s listen to the Illuminators as they reveal what we can’t see, let’s make sure the Elders get their role as enablers, and let’s champion those Network Entrepreneurs who unflaggingly keep the future unfolding.

With more than 30 years’ experience in law and business, Newt Fowler, a partner in Womble Bond Dickinson’s business practice, advises many investors, entrepreneurs and technology companies, guiding them through all aspects of business planning, financing transactions, technology commercialization and M&A. He’s the pastboard chair of TEDCO and serves on the Board of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore. Newt can be reached at newt.fowler@wbd-us.com.