Editor's Note: As we conclude our series about the birth of InCommons, we're "ending at the beginning," so to speak - sharing how an early piece of research helped chart a course forward, before there even was an InCommons, and continues to inspire InCommons today.  

What motivates courageous leadership? How do communities access and mobilize the resources they need to create change and solve problems? What do community leaders need most to advance their work?

Before the initiative that became InCommons began in earnest, the Bush Foundation partnered with Grassroots Solutions to perform an engagement audit and sought answers to these and other questions:

* What does it mean to engage communities to solve problems online and offline? 

* How do you support community engagement efforts online and offline? 

* How do you connect and engage individuals and civic institutions with the tools and spaces that the Bush Foundation is creating to ensure that they are accessed to maximum effect?  

As you might expect, these were not simple questions, and they did not yield simple answers. Grassroots Solutions analyzed the data to find consistent feedback, key themes and lessons from civic institutions, networking organizations, community organizing and advocacy groups, leadership programs, and individual thought leaders.

Overall, those who were interviewed shared several common responses: 

* Leaders need engaged communities to be successful in solving problems. 

* Leaders are seeking tools and support to help them get others involved in solving problems. 

* The success of a new initiative to support courageous leadership and problem solving will hinge on mutually aligned self-interest and community ownership.

Coupled with academic research from Wilder and the Humphrey Institute, the engagement audit formed the basis for what later became InCommons. Even more importantly, the insights gleaned from the engagement audit have practical applications at a grassroots level - the findings can be applied to individuals and organizations that seek to build consensus and capacity in pursuit of a common goal or solution to a common problem. And the engagement audit continues to inform the InCommons experience today.

The engagement audit also exemplifies one of InCommons' most important founding principles, a principle we encourage you not to forget: that each of us - no matter what our positions or credentials - have talent and insight to share. In fact, both the audit and research findings informed how we designed different parts of InCommons - Challenges, website resources, Gatherings, trainings, innovation sites and more. We'll discuss those pieces of the InCommons initiative in greater detail as part of our next newsletter series. 

As we move forward together, the future of InCommons is up to you - your needs, your feedback and your unique perspectives will dictate how this story progresses, which is why your contributions to the InCommons blog, InCommons Gatherings and the InCommons community online are so important to our shared success. 

Tell us how we can better support you and your work through InCommons - email us at info@incommons.org and put "momentum" in the subject line. Please include your name, organization (if applicable), city, state and a phone number where we can contact you for follow-up.