Celebrating and sharing the organizing history, lessons learned, research and analysis of Daniel Burke Leahy.

Dan Leahy was an organizer. He organized people. He organized information. He organized conferences, convergences, and educational institutes. He organized delegations. He organized money to make it happen. A few featured examples:

Lessons: Framework for Organizing

Lessons: Framework for Organizing

Dan wrote five concise pages titled “Framework for Organizing” as part of a 500-page “Organizer’s Notebook on Public Utilities and Energy” that he produced with the Human Affairs Program he directed in Ithaca, New York.

Portions, Chapter 2: Seattle University

Portions, Chapter 2: Seattle University

I don’t know where my organizational notions came from, but I certainly had them at Seattle University… It seems to be the beginning of my life long association with three ring binders.

Dan’s Top 25 Books

Dan’s Top 25 Books

In late October 2022, Godfather Denny May asked me to make a list of the top 25 books that influenced my life in some way.

I made up the list. It’s in a somewhat chronological order. I know I should annotate it in some small way, but one step at a time.

Talks & Charts

Reviving the Saint Patrick’s Battalion

Reviving the Saint Patrick’s Battalion

Tom told me a story. He said there were a bunch of Irish soldiers who switched sides and fought alongside the Mexican army against the US invasion in 1847. I said I didn’t believe him.

Archives: Index

Archives: Index

As part of his practice to document and share organizing histories, Dan Leahy compiled, indexed, and established multiple archives based on the hundreds of well-maintained binders in his basement. He created detailed indexes and sent hundreds of pages to various...

Talks: Index

Talks: Index

Writing a good talk is about connection. Connecting ideas, connecting causes and effects, connecting to the people with whom you are speaking. One of the first things you notice when you are looking through the binders of talks that Dan Leahy prepared is that he...

Organizing Lessons

Lessons: Framework for Organizing

Lessons: Framework for Organizing

Dan wrote five concise pages titled “Framework for Organizing” as part of a 500-page “Organizer’s Notebook on Public Utilities and Energy” that he produced with the Human Affairs Program he directed in Ithaca, New York.

Tributes

Roger Lippman

Dan inspired all of us, and we continue to work in memory of his leadership.

Washington Council of Firefighters

Dan was the keynote speaker for the Washington Council of Firefighters in 2002. He spoke the morning of September 10. Dan was a true friend and a force for intelligence and progress. We miss him dearly. Watch Dan's keynote address here. —Helen Kramer and Mike...

Sara Edmondson

When Dan was the Director of Cornell's Human Affairs Program (HAP), I was a graduate student in Cornell's Department of City and Regional Planning. I met Dan at a party he gave for his friends and colleagues, including one of my professors, Cary Hershey. Cary had...

Portions of Dan’s Autobiography

Portions: Preface

Portions: Preface

I wanted to tell my sons that life does not proceed in a linear, predetermined fashion. Life, at least mine, is made up of a series of coincidences, guesses and lucky moves.

Portions, Chapter 2: Seattle University

Portions, Chapter 2: Seattle University

I don’t know where my organizational notions came from, but I certainly had them at Seattle University… It seems to be the beginning of my life long association with three ring binders.