De’Amon Harges Joins the Trinity Christian College Community

De’Amon Harges joined the Trinity community this fall as Campus Convener for Trinity’s Center for Transformative Neighborhoods. This position is vital to the College’s Transformative Colleges Initiative (TCI), an effort to work with students, partners, and neighborhoods to do college differently.

Trinity is pursuing a model that reimagines higher education, making college more affordable and accessible to students in the greater Chicago area and beyond. The three main goals of TCI include ending reliance on student debt, centering student wellbeing, and pursuing mutual good with neighbors and partners. As a Christian institution of higher education, embracing God’s calling to live in community is a vital component in the thriving of Trinity students, faculty, staff, and neighbors.

In addition to his role at Trinity, Harges serves as a consultant around the country with not-for-profits (public benefit groups), philanthropies, government, and religious organizations. He is known as the original Roving Listener. His calling in life is an artist in a wide variety of ways, including with people, and he is a social banker.

Through his various roles, he identifies the gifts, talents, dreams, and passions of his neighbors to grow community, economy, and mutual delight. Harges continues this work today as a neighbor and as the founder of the Learning Tree, a business he has built with his neighbors that has taken him (and others) around the world to help people remember the ways community is present and powerful everywhere—particularly in places where people are pushed to the margins.

Originally from South Bend, Indiana, Harges grew up watching people in his community only receive services, not give services. As a result, he quickly learned that there are other worthwhile currencies beyond money—social capital, talent, trust, and generosity. In 2004, Harges asked his neighbors to share their stories with him. The goal, through his role at the time as an employee of Broadway United Methodist Church, was to uncover the gifts, talents, and dreams of his neighbors and to find ways to celebrate their gifts publicly. He would eventually train a whole team of Roving Listeners to cultivate community, economy, and mutual delight. The importance of establishing and building community throughout his previous work is evident and will greatly benefit him in his new role at Trinity.

Trinity Christian College is grateful to have De’Amon Harges join the community and looks forward to the collaboration that will flourish at the College to benefit our students, neighbors, and partners mutually.

Click here to learn more about the Transformative Colleges Initiative at Trinity Christian College.