 | Partners Kettering Foundation David Mathews, President and CEO The Kettering Foundation is an operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of inventive research. Its founder, Charles F. Kettering, holder of more than 200 patents, is best known for his invention of the automotive self-starter. Established in 1927, the Foundation today continues that tradition. The objective of the research now is to understand the way bodies politic, rather than bodies mechanical, function or fail to function. Kettering treats politics in its broadest sense—politics as a dimension of everyday life rather than as only what officeholders and governments do. The research is done for practical purposes; it goes into crafting "tools" (study guides, community workbooks, and other exercises) that help a public act responsibly and effectively on its problems. Specifically, the Foundation . . . - Produces, in cooperation with Public Agenda, issue books for forums that encourage serious deliberation on hard policy choices facing the public. These are called National Issues Forums (NIF) books, and they are used by a network of more than 6,000 civic and educational organizations, ranging from literacy groups to religious organizations to neighborhood associations. Results from the NIF deliberations around the country are reported annually through the "Public Voice" program on PBS stations.
- Formulates new rules of engagement that citizens and officials of government can use to turn unproductive relationships into more constructive ways of working together.
- Designs, in collaboration with nongovernmental groups in other countries, such as Russia and China, methods for improving relationships between nations with substantial differences. For use by the parties in conflict themselves and not third parties, these processes are designed for situations where traditional negotiation and mediation are of limited usefulness.
- Studies and reports on ways citizens can get their hands on problems in community development and educational reform. Kettering uses this research to design tools for citizens so that they can change their communities in ways that make improvement more likely. The tools for educational reform emphasize putting the public back into public education.
- Publishes workbooks for communities to use in countering political pathologies that often undermine efforts to deal with systemic problems — for example, those that put young people at risk. The Foundation also studies ways for communities to become "leaderful" and develop the capabilities needed for effective public action on a range of problems.
- Develops study guides and exercises for use in schools, colleges, and universities that are attempting to improve the civic education of their students; and publishes a journal on education for public leadership.
To carry out its work, the Foundation maintains an active publications program, which includes the Kettering Review. It conducts workshops to demonstrate the use of its issue books and other tools. The major workshops are held each summer. These include a workshop with civic and educational organizations from other countries that use public forums as a means of developing a responsible and effective citizenry. Kettering Foundation on CPN: Ordering Information - Politics for People: Finding a Responsible Public Voice by David Mathews is available in paperback from the University of Illinois Press for $9.95. Call 1-800-545-4703 and mention code MPP or refer to the ISBN# 0-252-06382-1.
- For information on ordering any other Kettering Foundation publications, call 1-800-600-4060. They accept Visa and Mastercard and can invoice.
The Foundation works through a small staff, assisted by associates, student research assistants and domestic and international scholars-in-residence. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, Kettering does not make grants. Its endowment of $160 million provides roughly a third of the resources for its programs. Therefore, the Foundation continually seeks joint ventures with organizations in the United States and other countries that have similar interests. An example is a collaborative project with the Knight Foundation, New York University, and the American Press Institute to develop ways for journalism to strengthen public life. Similar projects explore the relationship between other professions and the public. More Information Kettering Foundation
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