Community Partners helps fledgling community groups get off the ground. In addition, we have served as an intermediary and strategic partner to a host of foundations, established organizations, networks and others as they work to effect social change.

Our work has taken us through a wide range of issues critical to our diverse and complex region: from school reform and violence prevention to community technology, youth leadership, community organizing, health care, environmental protection and so much more.

In all, we have partnered with more than 400 different leadership groups and supported their efforts to facilitate change and community development. And though each and every group comes with its own unique approaches and its own set of challenges, we have come to see particular needs common to all groups as they grow.

Community Partners addresses those needs using a wealth of capabilities honed and developed in response to direct experience with nonprofits, community-based organizations and foundations. Working through two major program areas – Incubator Services and Strategic Initiatives and Special Projects – Community Partners employs these core capabilities in support of all aspects of the growth and development of nonprofit leaders and their organizations.

A Few of Our Core Capabilities:

Nurturing Community Leadership

Community Partners has learned that by offering a supportive environment and thoughtful guidance, we can help an individual leader as well as groups to develop and strengthen their skills to meet an emerging organization’s toughest challenges.

Establishing a Solid Infrastructure

Passion. Drive. The urge to make a difference. These qualities are never lacking in the individuals who come through Community Partners’ doors. Few, however, come prepared to take on the administrative and financial details so crucial to a project’s future success. It’s a kind of balancing act, between the heart and the head – a capability Community Partners’ staff works diligently to develop among new projects.

Supporting Peer Learning Groups and Networks

Bringing our partners together through peer learning groups and networks has come to be seen as one of the most powerful capabilities that Community Partners offers. The benefits are enormous, as project leaders learn from one another, find support for common goals, and initiate collaborations to make a greater impact in the community. You may read or print as a PDF our report Peer Learning: A Partnership for Growth (369KB), which provides a good introduction to the concept.

Managing Complex Initiatives

With our unique combination of strengths, which include curriculum design, community outreach, leadership and organizational development training, project management and network/peer learning group facilitation, Community Partners manages major, multi-faceted initiatives for foundations and other institutions.

Linking Community Needs with Resources

Helping project leaders make connections to move their efforts forward is a constant at Community Partners. It happens formally, through our peer learning groups, networks and workshops. And it also happens informally, as our staff and Board of Directors, and even our Project Leaders, continually search for ways to provide access to important resources and key decision-makers in government, philanthropy, business and other nonprofit organizations.

Learn how we work with new Incubator Services projects and Strategic Initiatives.