To Sustain our Democracy, We Must Embrace Civic Engagement
Discovering the Practical Solutions We Need Now
smallMatters Institute unites great people doing great things to pursue common goals. We connect visionary individuals and organizations with the right networks and funding to realize the changes they seek. We believe every citizen can contribute to a better future for America, but when we unite with like-minded people rather than acting alone,
We believe that all people have the capacity to improve the human condition. However, they often do not have the training needed to become their best self, or the economic knowledge of how to create a livelihood from their chosen areas of interest. Their work is siloed — which results in wasted time, talent and resources. By giving individuals, organizations, and communities examples of how change opportunities are identified, how to measure the impact of the changes they seek and how to collaborate with existing stakeholders — public and private — they can more effectively advance their ideas and make the societal changes they envision.
We the People can create and sustain a powerful force that cannot be ignored. We can work together to enact true, lasting change! We encourage collaboration among organizations, individuals, public agencies, and capital providers to build stronger, more prosperous communities. By embracing the ideas that unite us and finding creative solutions for societal challenges, we pave the way for more resilient future generations.
As our motto says, THINK BIG, act small!
How Do We Do It?
Proving it’s possible to design systems that foster, promote and propagate social change and support economic excellence, we identify and demonstrate measurable programs to address critical gaps in our society.
Once we identify a societal gap that we can fill, we develop micro-level proof-of-concept experiments to assess feasibility and scalability on a macro level. We consider the social, cultural, environmental and financial factors of our projects and track specific metrics to assess their impact, adjusting our approach as needed. By starting small, we can conserve our talent and resources so that we might focus on big opportunities.
Interested in collaboration? Partnering with us gives you insight to our proven methodology that can push your ideas forward.
There’s No Time Like the Present
Like every era in American history, our current generation stands on the precipice of hope and opportunity. However, with so many social, economic and cultural challenges, it is easy for special interest groups to divide us rather than promoting collaboration.
Our children’s future is at stake. To be clear: The future can be glorious or horrible. The good news is that we do not have to be only spectators.
If anything is certain, we need to address America’s most pressing issues now — not later — so that we might give ourselves and our children a better present and our grandchildren a brighter future. Our projects are designed to uncover answers to some of our nation’s most critical questions and give ambitious people and ideas the funds, connections and skillsets they need to become fully engaged citizens. Our current focus is on the environment, education and workforce development.
Meet Our Founder
Roy Allen is a history buff, a futurist, socioeconomic researcher, father and grandfather with an ambitious vision for America. He spent decades in the business world, giving him first-hand insight on how organizations thrive or fall short. An avid reader, with degrees in business management, economics and applied creativity, he is adept at identifying societal gaps and transforming them into economic opportunity. He’s a proud American who is grateful for the freedoms our nation’s greatest leaders, such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, have granted us. Roy is committed to advancing the nation toward a kinder, compassionate, humane and prosperous future.