Bring the walls down; bridge the divides

Nine years ago, when Creative Director David Brown founded the Harmony Project, his idea of Columbus was not very diverse — mostly white, affluent and educated. But that only scratches the surface.
Brown says diversity isn’t just about race or religion. It encompasses education, socioeconomics and life experiences. Harmony Project connects all types of people through the arts, education and volunteer community service.
“We have to figure out how to connect people across those divides. The divides are not going to go away. We’re not about trying to get people to vote the same way or even to agree on political hot button issues,” Brown says. “We’re about setting those to the side and saying, ‘A playground doesn’t care if you voted for him or her. A community garden doesn’t care if you believe in God or don’t believe in God. Meals that need to be served don’t care if you have a doctorate or if you didn’t graduate from high school.’”
If everyone rallies together, more gets done, and if you work with people who are different, your fears naturally decrease, he says.
Brown sees this, too, with the business leaders who are part of the organization.
When Harmony Project paints a community mural, he says a CEO of a major Fortune 500 company could be on one ladder, while the next ladder holds someone who just got out of prison. They have no idea who the other is, but they’re both there helping. And if they happen to have a conversation, it’s not forced or guided; it’s organic.
Developing a true community where everyone buys in — whether throughout the city or within your office — means getting out of your comfort zone.

“It’s important that you get out of your company. It’s important that you get out of your own neighborhood. It’s important that you get out of the schools that are familiar with you, and the communities that are familiar with you,” Brown says. “And it’s important that each organization and each company find ways for the mail clerks and the janitorial staff and the senior VPs to interact.”