by Greg Heinrich, Alumni Mobilization Manager, AmeriCorps Alums

Surfing the web for the terms grassroots and grasstops yields a variety of definitions for each term.

One of the more interesting articles I came across, equated grassroots efforts as being connected to rank and file members of society or by everyday, average citizens, while referring to grasstops as the profound thinkers in the social purpose sector.

In general there are some standard elements that help craft the make-up of each of these terms, but for the purposes of this post, I’ll use “grassroots” in the context of addressing a community challenge through the efforts of local community residents, while I’ll use “grasstops” in the context as those citizens who significantly influence policy around our country’s most pressing social issues.

The question I’ve asked myself is how truly connected are the grasstops to the grassroots?

In theory, the grasstops are integrally connected to the grassroots, but I have to wonder how much time a person who is influencing national policy – around youth civic engagement for instance- spends with the very people who are working day-in and day-out with those very same youth for which the policy is being crafted.

At the end of the day, if the grasstops have such a large influence on policy and the ears of the policy makers, how is their time balanced between crafting policy and staying connected to the grassroots?

Traveling back and forth to meet with policy makers, participating on speaking panels, and other obligations creates a pretty hectic schedule.

To be sure there are those examples of grasstops whose work is integrally connected with grassroots movements.  But, that is the exception to the rule.

Most of the persons who we know as grasstops have schedules that are jam packed with executive level meetings for weeks or months on end.

With such crammed schedules, it’s a fair question to ask if grasstops are really as connected to the grassroots as their theoretical symbiotic relationship suggests.  And if that connection is absent, then it is logical to conclude that the grasstops may unintentionally be crafting policy that is not, in fact, inclusive of the persons it affects most.

So my questions are, what are your thoughts on if and how the grassroots and grasstops can become more closely connected?

Can you think of a grasstop that is closely connected to the grassroots?

How does one do it well?