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A lecture by trans•act senior fellow Roy Priest is now available online. Roy shares lessons learned in cultivating social capital during his 17-year tenure with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

New Orleans – What does a floating circus in the Amazon rain forest have in common with a farmers market in downtown New Orleans? More to the point, what lessons and practices can these two disparate organizations share to help each improve lives in the communities they serve?

These are some of the questions to be addressed by trans·act, an innovative summer fellowship program organized by the New Orleans-based NGO marketumbrella.org. Sponsored by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, trans·act will bring together a respected group of influencers in the worlds of public health, economic development, farmers, public markets and private foundations in an international effort to devise new methodologies and practices for encouraging – and measuring – better nutritional, social and public health in communities where traditions and folkways are being challenged by change and instability.