Washington D.C. Local-Connection Event: El Rincon

Class ACT’s first Dynamics of Change local-connection event: Wednesday, November 12th at Primi Piatti Ristorante Washington, DC Partnering for Development: Dinner and conversation with HR73 classmates Roger Myerson and Ellen Calmus.

Ellen Calmus ’73 is founder and director of the Corner Institute (Instituto del Rincón elrincon.org) of Malinalco, Mexico; Roger Myerson ’73 is an adviser to the Corner Institute and Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Economics, University of Chicago and 2007 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics. Classmates attending: Allen Lee, Robert Clayton, Julia Frank, Charles Horn, Jane Luxton, Thomas McNamara, Christine Pendzich, Laurie Quarles, Thomas Mattair and wife Laura, and Walter Morris.

This Class ACT gathering of Washington D.C.-area classmates showcased the inspiring results that can grow out of a partnering approach to Third World development challenges. Ellen's topic included the successes that can result when challenges to development are addressed by providing technical expertise for projects initiated and propelled by locally-generated ideas; Roger spoke about his travels to Malinalco for a 2006 brief-residency Rincón seminar and what he observed there.

Classmates were invited to participate in a discussion of the conundrums of development: How can we help underdeveloped communities emerge from poverty? How can these initiatives become self-sustaining? What can Americans do to improve the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico?