The Power of Asset-Based Community Development
Engaging the strengths and talents of our broad and diverse communities helps to effectively solve problems and advance social justice
Lately, our team has been thinking and talking a lot about Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). ABCD is a community-organizing approach that engages local people and organizations to foster resilient and thriving communities by identifying, nurturing, and mobilizing existing community assets and talents for positive social change. “Building on the skills of local residents, the power of local associations, and the supportive functions of local institutions, asset-based community development draws upon existing community strengths to build stronger, more sustainable communities for the future,” the ABCD Institute explains.
Early in Belinda’s career, she directly served formerly unhoused people with psychiatric disabilities, and later organized formerly unhoused supportive housing tenants and people with psychiatric disabilities to influence local government and social service organization programs and policies. At the time, it was unusual for organizations to include clients or people with direct experience in policymaking or leadership roles in the organizations that serve them — for example, having a client of the organization serve on its board of directors.
Now in our field, we are seeing increased awareness and interest in “lived experience,” and significantly more openness to engaging those directly impacted in decision-making and centering their experiences as programs and organizational policies are developed.
It takes a village, and while those directly impacted have invaluable knowledge that must be centered in order to make informed decisions, others also provide valuable expertise and can together serve as sources of wisdom to solve social problems. In addition to centering the expertise of those with lived experience, we need the strengths, talents, and wisdom of everyone in our community to collectively solve social problems. This ABCD approach includes engaging government, residents, schools, businesses, nonprofits, and corporations. Welcoming and including all members of our communities who are willing to work toward a more fair and equitable society can be helpful, and even essential, to making meaningful change.
This was the approach we supported recently facilitating Contra Costa County’s Measure X Community Advisory Board (MXCAB), a community advisory body responsible for assessing community needs and advising the Board of Supervisors. On the MXCAB, residents, community leaders, retirees, nonprofit consultants, foundation staff, government administrators, evaluators, lawyers, and other community members came together to identify community needs and advise the county on how to spend tax dollars raised by the Measure.
For more information about how you can integrate ABCD into your organization and in coalition work, check out the ABCD toolkit and asset mapping tools from the ABCD Institute.