Community Engagement

St. Petersburg, FL

A positive youth activity program which offers development opportunities for teens, grades 6-12, through entertainment and special events.

Queens, NY

A program that uses the rich cultural heritage of the community to engage and educate neighborhood youth

St. Paul, MN

A nonprofit theatre that has enhanced the community of downtown St. Paul through cultural and educational engagement for over forty years.

Winston-Salem, NC

An organization of Winston-Salem’s business community that promotes economic and entrepreneurial development in the area.

New York City, NY

A non-profit organization that engages neighborhood youth, the arts and cultural heritage in order to improve the entire community.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

A city that embraces arts and culture as a significant way to effect economic and social change in the community.

Bridge Builders Award

An organization that uses dance to engage at-risk youth and teach valuable principles like work ethic, tenacity, responsibility and creative expression.

St. Paul, MN

A community foundation that makes philanthropic grants, leads charitable projects and provides a number of other services to improve the livability of residents in the St. Paul area.

Entrepreneurial American Leadership Award

A community leader who has fought to preserve and revitalize the rich cultural past of Paterson, New Jersey.

This report documents the Richmond Metro Area Aging in Place Workshop which focused on engaging community leaders and provides an in-depth understanding of the role that leadership plays in the lives of older adults in the greater Richmond region, as well as the innovative programs and initiatives that are happening across the country on this issue. Click here to download the report.

In May of 2009, up-and-coming urban affairs magazine Next American City awarded their first annual “Next American Vanguard” awards to young urban leaders. The 35 individuals chosen came from 18 different states and a variety of interests that ranged from community organizing to design to environmental justice.

Partners’ Director of Program Development, Lyz Crane, was one of the selected Vanguards and participated in a two-day forum in which the chosen leaders shared their innovative work and identified a joint manifesto with 15 goals in three critical areas: transportation, civic engagement and land use planning. The 2009 Vanguards are expected to participate in the passing of the torch to next year’s class and remain involved in the magazine’s efforts to identify cutting edge urban issues.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For their success in supporting local artists, youth education mentoring and neighborhood transformation through their groundbreaking mural program.

Neal Pierce reports on the role of the library as social gathering place and powerful resource for new immigrants looking to assimilate.

Tucson, Arizona

A cultural organization that fuses arts and heritage to bring community members of all ages together.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For the community partnership that went into the creation of the Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Center.

Written by Tom Borrup with Partners for Livable Communities, this book features best practices and technical assistance how-to's on using culture as a fundamental tool for transformative community development. The book is a tool of broad scope covering topics such as: Asset Mapping; Funding and Policy; Effective Partnerships; Assessment and Evaluation. The book follows up on Partners ground-breaking Culture Builds Communities work.

Borrup writes, “In 1993 PLC began an extensive developmental program called Culture Builds Community, which aims to systematically place cultural assets within the portfolio of community development efforts…Nationwide in scope, the program gave rise to a publication, Culture Builds Communities, that inspired this book.”

Published by Fieldstone Alliance, Saint Paul, MN, 2006, 261 pages ($25)

(This Report/Book is only available for purchase. Partners does not have an electronic version available)

San José, CA

South Bay California’s largest provider of housing and other services for the homeless.

An exploration of whether midsize cities should have a league of their own, i.e. are they unique and special and should they have a stronger voice on public plicies in the U.S. and on global business development abroad? The results of a conference of invited researchers and public policy leaders led by Tom Argus of Rochester and Laura Durham of Partners for Livable Communities.

Author: William Fulton, Solimar Research, 16 pages, November 2002. ($5) Or Download the Report for Free here