Community Builders is celebrating our first 10 years! Founded in 2016, we help communities unite around a shared vision, then create the strategies and capacity to make it happen. Along the way, we strengthen leadership, engagement, and collaboration - the foundations of civic capacity - so communities are ready for the future.
We took a look back at some of our projects to see where these communities landed. There are many success stories, as well as places where change is still a goal. You’ll find our Stories of Impact periodically featured here on our Colorado Gives page and on our website. We hope you find these stories, and communities, inspiring.
A Mindset Shift Transforms Community Building in Alamosa
Northern Arizona Counties Land Economic Home Runs
"Community Builder's model of facilitating dialogue and creating space for the community members to become leaders and take ownership of what it means to be a Silvertonian was exactly what our community needed." - Gloria Kaasch-Buerger, Town Administrator of Silverton, Colorado
"Community Builders empowers and enables a community to find solutions for themselves versus having a solution thrust upon them from an outside consultant." - Russ Forrest, City Manager of Gunnison, Colorado
"Through the Community Builders Housing Institute we were able to reengage key community partners and find ways to make a larger impact by working together." - Shay Coburn, Town Planner of Ridgway, Colorado
"After my first CAT (Community Action Team) meeting, it became immediately apparent that both Downtown GJ and Community Builders valued the input of all community members." - Colin St.Clair, Grand Junction, CO
For 10 years, Community Builders has worked to replace outdated policies and development practices with approaches that create a more livable future—always rooted in engagement, leadership, and collaboration. That work remains essential, but so too is healing divisions that limit progress and pull us apart. When we bring people together to solve local problems, we can also help to bridge community divisions. By bringing people together to build a better community, we rebuild civic life—and by rebuilding civic life, we build better communities.
The monies we raise are put directly into our Training and Assistance Programs in under-resourced communities across the west. We stay until the work is done and our philanthropic partners–including you!--are the only way we can continue this work.
Our Impact : Over 1000 local leaders trained from 65 communities; 40+ assistance projects; $270 million of new funding catalyzed and allocated to project implementation
Organization name
Community Builders
2016
Tax id (EIN)
61-1765796
Category
Community Improvement & Capacity Building
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
PO Box 3128Garfield County, CO, US
Lake County, CO, US
Montrose County, CO, US
San Miguel County, CO, US
Routt County, CO, US