Effective social capital can be seen in everyday activities that build connections among people, from someone opening a door for a stranger to bringing a community together to solving a complex issue. Public service leaders must apply this knowledge of social capital to help build strong communities, grow trust, and establish a better future for all.

The Boy Scouts of America, through its current work and through the methods identified here, can make a meaningful difference in improving civic engagement and economic mobility in the United States through the development of social capital among participants. This organization and others can play an important role in strengthening America’s social fabric and building connections among an increasingly fractured population.

Network analysis reveals gaps via network density and fragmentation metrics and key actors via degree centrality and betweenness centrality metrics. This information can better inform public administrators on how to disseminate information about public health resources and services through after-school staff.

Utilizing social capital presents an innovative strategy for reigniting theater engagement, emphasizing a crucial question: Who constitutes our audience, and what entices their return?