Building Power with Communities

Community power building is essential to achieving health equity and racial justice. Inequitable systems of power shape policies and systems that advantage some groups and disadvantage others, resulting in health inequities. Community power building strengthens the existing assets of communities most impacted by structural inequities to grow an organized base that can shape agendas, shift discourse, and drive policy and systems change.

Our approach strengthens community power by supporting community power-building organizations (CPBOs) and cultivating community power ecosystems. CPBOs help community members develop an understanding of power and build the skills and commitment needed for community organizing and advocacy. A community power-building ecosystem is a coordinated network of organizations that work together through organizing, narrative change, research, advocacy, and related strategies. We grow practitioner skills in power mapping, policy advocacy, narrative strategy, and other practices. We also steward communities of practice for peer learning and campaign support, and we bolster policy, systems, and narrative change efforts. These efforts increase understanding and support for community-led power building.

Our work contributes to stronger and more connected community power ecosystems capable of driving policy and systems change. As community voice, leadership, and agency grow, so does organizing capacity and the strength of coalitions, helping to shape policies and practices that reflect community priorities and advance health equity and racial justice.