Child on a swing.

Building Strong Communities

Partnering with communities to influence change


What We Work For

We believe that the well-being of children and families is directly impacted by whether they live in strong, stable, inclusive, and supportive communities.

Through our work, we seek and build evidence about what factors in a community impact and improve child and family well-being—and then put that knowledge into action.

How We Do It

We partner with residents and community stakeholders to challenge and change systemic forces that negatively impact communities. Our efforts help residents and their public/private sector partners make their communities as powerful, equitable, and inclusive as possible in order to become places where children and families thrive.

We start by understanding what factors have the power to improve child and family well-being and positively impact communities. Then, we partner with residents and community stakeholders to challenge and transform systemic forces that negatively impact communities and lead to inequitable outcomes.

As our collaboration continues, we increase the capacity of stakeholders to achieve better results for children and families. Through these efforts, we see improvements in how communities align their resources and, ultimately, better outcomes for children and families.

Our work with community partners is aimed at ensuring local communities are as strong and inclusive as possible by improving systems, policies, and practices that allow families to thrive.

We work directly with communities to assist and enhance their work, providing coaching and strategy support, training, and technical assistance.

Our learning is informed by, and shared with, residents and community stakeholders to support continuous improvement and influence changes in practice, policy, and funding priorities on both a local and national level.

We strike a balance between building the capacity of residents and community stakeholders and addressing the institutional forces that shape neighborhood conditions and perpetuate racial and economic inequities.

Our work will be successful when all communities in the United States are strong, inclusive places where all children and families thrive.