Bridges Across Every Divide Podcast – Episode 1: The beginning of a beautiful friendship

with Phil DeVol and Gene Krebs

Gene Krebs: Ron Amstutz, then chair of the Ohio House Finance Committee, had been for some time looking for some pixie dust, some thing that he could sprinkle over the issue of poverty and all the silos that relate to poverty, and come up with something to address. It was like he could see something out of the corner of his eye. There was a color here he could not quite see. And he heard you [Phil DeVol] talking about the various ways that you implement your methodology and everything, and all the light bulbs went off for Ron. He had an “ology” if you will, to go along with his concept. And then he turned that into legislation, got money for it.

Phil DeVol: Yes. And that turned into Healthier Buckeye Councils and the $11.5 million going to 20 or 21 sites. And 10 of those were solid Bridges sites, and then Bridges played a part in a number of other ones as well.

Gene: And then I think it’s also been about, this is a good point for the whole Bridges movement in that it’s aged now about 20 years.

Listen to the Bridges Across Every Divide podcast for more.

About the Author: Philip DeVol

Phil DeVol is an international consultant who has been working with aha! Process since 1997. He used aha! Process concepts to make institutional changes at the addiction treatment center where he was the executive director for 19 years. During this time he also co-wrote Bridges Out of Poverty with Ruby Payne and Terie Dreussi-Smith. His book Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-by-World is being used to engage people in poverty in the work of building communities where everyone can live well. It worked so well that DeVol used it as a basis for a prison reentry model called Getting Ahead while Getting Out. He works with community leaders to help them move quickly from an attraction to application of Bridges concepts. Getting Ahead and Bridges are being used in hundreds of communities in the U.S., as well as a number of sites in Canada, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. His books have been translated into Spanish, Slovak, and Czech.