The majority of Partners’ work focuses on asset-based strategies, which look to improve community quality of life by leveraging or enhancing the existing resources, developing new resources, or building partnerships among resources and other business, civic and community organizations.

When Partners speaks of culture-based strategies, Partners is defining culture broadly to include the unlettered, unstructured skills present in every community.  These are the community’s cultural assets, which become building blocks to improve the neighborhood. Cultural assets come in all sizes, types and areas of interest—from neighborhood based arts organizations to high-profile regional museums and performing arts centers.  They can be public or private entities, and can be found in church basements, abandoned stores or glamorous architect-designed buildings.

While cultural assets are located in nearly every neighborhood, they are often overlooked when plans for human and physical revitalization are being laid.  This oversight is particularly detrimental to individuals working to improve the economic and social condition of neighborhoods because cultural assets can be powerful partners to leverage physical improvements and create a climate of investment, to provide important services to at risk youngsters and their families, to further efforts of multicultural understanding, and to become the catalyst for regional cooperation.  Partners works through long-term initiatives, technical assistance, events, and publications to change this dynamic.