Indiana Member Assists Community of Greater St. Louis

Andy Fraizer and Rose Scovel of Indiana Association for Community Economic Development provide TA to the Community Builders Network of Greater St. Louis

By Rose Scovel, Director of Capacity Building at the Indiana Association for Community Economic Development

January 31, 2014

Last week Executive Director Andy Fraizer and Director of Capacity Building Rose Scovel, AICP were honored to spend two days working with the staff, board, and community partners of the Community Builders Network of Greater St. Louis. Founded September 29, 2011, the Community Builders Network (CBN) is a professional association of nonprofit community building organizations whose goal is to build vibrant neighborhoods where people want – and can afford – to live, creating a stronger and more competitive regional economy. The CBN works in close partnership with the University of Missouri at St. Louis. CBN works towards their goals by: increasing the capacity of member organizations, developing a more supportive community building system, and raising public awareness of the need and importance for community building. The CBN has approximately 30 members that are engaged in place-based work in the St. Louis metro area.

CBN contracted with the Indiana Association for Community Economic Development (IACED) to provide a third party assessment of progress in their two years of existence and recommendations for network advancement. In addition to compiling the assessment based on stakeholder interviews, IACED will be provide CBN with network best practices and organizational models for serving the diverse community building constituencies in the greater St. Louis region. Lastly, IACED staff will offer templates for a strategic planning process.

IACED staff conducted two-day’s of focus groups and interviews with board members, CBN committee members, and community partners like government, financial institutions, and the University of Missouri at St. Louis. The information from these meetings will be used to help structure CBNs strategic planning process for the next three years and frame the discussions and actions to occur in the next three years.

IACED connected to CBN through the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA). NACEDA supports its members such as CBN and IACED through peer-learning and networking programs to boost the capacity of member associations. IACED utilized its experience and the knowledge generated with NACEDA through a collaborative organizational capacity assessment (OCA) process to strengthening community economic development associations and networks. IACED used the OCA customized by NACEDA to shape understanding of the provided documents and via CBN board and staff interviews.

IACED supports a network of organizations that builds vital communities and resilient families. It advocates for public policies and assists the network in developing comprehensive solutions that engage local leadership to generate private and public investment. IACED has a membership of approximately 300 including community development corporations, human services provides, local units of government, and community developers of impacting positive places and building resilient families. With a professional staff of five, IACED provides member services including public policy advocacy, a program of capacity building including individual professional development and organizational technical assistance Lastly, IACED supports its member community developers through peer-learning and support.

Share this post:

Comments on "Indiana Member Assists Community of Greater St. Louis"

Comments 0-5 of 0

Please login to comment