Robert Leaver

Robert Leaver is a community psychologist. He has 45 years of experience in teaching and consulting. Robert has organized over 800 community-place based projects for clients, mostly locally and regionally. New Commons is in Providence, RI.

He is the founder and convener of New Commons – a whole new kind of think tank, founded in 1982. It is place-based with a place being a city, an island, village or an organization. New Commons goes beyond analysis and reporting. Our clients need tangible results, so we help them move from thought to action by helping them build a fresh network composed of the right capabilities, and then mobilize that network of know-how to get the job done. Think...Link...Do.

Robert’s project work, teaching and writing focuses on shaping what comes next with our culture and places, locally and regionally. The work uses a whole systems approach with the whole mattering more than the parts. This work integrates the past – especially soul -- with what comes next, which a constant, creative tension. His areas of focus are: business & ecology; change & what holds constant; city & soul; digital technology & culture; next economy & place; makers & movers; organizations & whole systems; teaching & learning; resilient & sustainable communities.

Robert is an eagle scout. He is the editor of City & Soul, Volume II of the Uniform Edition of James Hillman.