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CITIZEN YOU
Doing Your Part to Change the World
By Jonathan Tisch
Crown; on-sale May 4th, 2010
What
many Americans have learned, sometimes painfully,
over the last several years is not to rely on government
and big business to address every problem. In a time of
unprecedented challenges nationally and globally, citizen
engagement is not a choice -- it's a necessity. In an
exciting new publication, CITIZEN YOU: Doing Your Part
to Change the World (Crown; May 4, 2010; $24) bestselling
author and Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels Jonathan Tisch
uncovers what he calls active citizens--people who use their
professional skills to alleviate a social problem in a
sustainable way. In the process he shows readers how to discover
their own purpose, and better yet, how to join an inspiring new
movement.
Tisch explains
that active citizenship is different from the
noble but inherently limited tradition of volunteerism, because
active citizens don't stop after volunteering. They go further
and examine the root causes of the problems that inspired
them to serve in the first place -- problems like hunger,
poverty, illiteracy, and inequality. “All around the country,”
says Tisch, “I've met people who want to be involved in
this new activism, but don't know how.” CITIZEN YOU
shows people how easy it is to integrate these concepts
into their lives, no matter who they are or what their
background.
CITIZEN YOU
reveals the new trends in today’s civic
engagement movement, exploring the shift from volunteerism
to active citizenship, from charity to social entrepreneurship,
from targeted philanthropy to systemic change, and from
top-down paternalism to community-based action often
driven by online social media. What readers discover is how
professionals of all stripes are becoming citizen teachers,
lawyers and engineers. Business leaders are integrating
social impact into strategic decisions. Cities and companies
are forming social service programs. For example, in the book
we learn about:
The kind of
action mentality that inspired Scott Harrison,
a former night club promoter and party planner who was
concerned about the lack of clean, safe drinking water in the
developing world. By founding charity: water, he realized
that
he could put his networking and marketing skills to work
to help millions of people drink safely.
College student
Steffi Coplan, who wanted nearby
disadvantaged kids to have access to the same things
that most excited her from her studies. By introducing the
Broadway2Broadway project, she spread her passion for the
American musical to a community that never would have been
exposed to it. By doing so she provided them with the
motivation to chart productive paths they might
not have dreamed of.
Will
Allen,
a basketball player turned famed “urban farmer,”
who realized that inner-city residents had access only to
fast food instead of healthy natural fruits and vegetables.
So Allen founded Growing Power which transforms urban
vacant lots in the Midwest into small farms. By doing so he has
created jobs, improved the nutrition of some 10,000 people
and provided a practical model of reform that he hopes to
spread to locations around the country.
This philosophy
of active citizenship has long been the
inspiration for philanthropist Jonathan Tisch, the CEO of
Loews Hotels and a member of one of New York City’s
most civic-minded families—one that has supported many
of the country’s notable institutions and programs.
Whether
we are business or civic leaders, students graduating
this May, professionals or ordinary individuals, CITIZEN YOU
helps find a path to active citizenship that feels right for
anyone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jonathan Tisch
is the author of the bestsellers
The Power of We and Chocolates on the Pillow
Aren’t Enough.
He is also Co-Chairman of the Board and a member of the
Office of the President of Loews Corporation, one of the
largest diversified financial holding companies in the U.S.,
and is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of its
subsidiary, Loews Hotels. Tisch has appeared on
“The Today Show,” “The Early Show,” “Larry King Live,”
“Charlie Rose,” CNN, CNBC, and Fox News Channel.
He is also the host of the Emmy-Award-nominated
television show “Beyond the Boardroom.”
ABOUT THE BOOK:
CITIZEN YOU: Doing Your
Part to Change the World
By Jonathan Tisch
Crown * Publication
date: May 4, 2010 * Price: $24
* 288 pages
ISBN:
978-0307588487
Are you a Citizen YOU?
Find out at:
www.citizenyou.org.
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