FOREWORD   As life zips by too quickly, I have decided to set certain boundaries about time. One of them is to seek to connect with people, places, and ideas dedicated to transformation. The transformation I care the most about is deep change in how American culture-through its systems, rituals, symbols, and norms-embraces and promotes the healthy development of all children and adolescents. Such transformation will require a massive flow of human energy and spirit directed to naming and growing the inherent strengths found in each human life and unleashing the capacity of individuals, organizations, and institutions to create places and settings of support and growth. The change process  begins with a transformation in human consciousness and understanding. Resiliency is one of those consciousness-changing ideas. Grounded in decades of research and practice, the concept of resiliency causes us to think differently. With its accents on the processes of human development, the internal and external forces that promote positive growth, and conceptual and practical dimensions of change-making, resiliency becomes a way of thinking and being which changes lives. Accordingly, it is about hope and possibility. Resiliency in Action: Practical Ideas for Overcoming Risks and Building Strengthsmakes this growing body of knowledge and understanding more accessible. And it does so by creating a wonderful balance of theory and practice, of head and heart. It is a unique and important compilation of core material, drawing on the work of major thinkers, writers, and practitioners. That it does so is really a testament to the quality of the Resiliency In Action journal from which these articles are gleaned. This work and the ideas it conveys should be consumed and discussed by many-not just by the professionals who work with young people in schools, congregations, youth organizations, and agencies, but also by those who carry no formal portfolio for human development. For it may be that it is the people of our communities who have the most capacity to trigger and sustain the transformation we need. Peter L. Benson, Ph.D. President Search Institute Minneapolis, MN Back