Building the civic infrastructure everyone needs to thrive

Blueprints for Belonging is a 10‑year, multi-state initiative to turn today’s fragile climate and community development momentum into a durable, justice-centered civic infrastructure that delivers health, prosperity, and resilience in under-resourced communities throughout the United States.

Communities throughout the country built new civic capacity and project pipelines of community-led climate and infrastructure projects in anticipation of historic federal investments.

But that progress is at risk from funding whiplash, ecosystem fragmentation, and increasingly adversarial federal governance.

Without intentional, long-term support, communities that prepared for these investments could end up weaker than before, losing the capacity, partnerships, and trust needed to tackle intertwined crises of climate change, inequality, and democratic erosion.

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WHAT WE DO

STRATEGIC PORTFOLIO

Identify, track, and support a pipeline of community-led, shovel-worthy projects in multiple states, prioritizing those that build community wealth, improve health, and reduce climate risk.

DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY

Pilot full-service and shared-capacity models (e.g., pooled staff, back-office support, bootcamps, learning sprints) so that communities with low existing capacity can still originate and deliver high-impact projects without unrealistic burdens.

PROJECT DELIVERY

Pair implementation support with a powerful communications engine to make success visible, build public trust, and inspire a fanbase for community-led climate and economic solutions.

MOVEMENT BUILDING

Develop and disseminate policy playbooks and innovative governance models that embed mission-oriented, democratic approaches into city, state, and federal statutes, while building cross-sector alliances that can move these ideas into law.

HOW THIS INITIATIVE WORKS

A core group of partners align around shared goals, strategy, and narratives to lead and shape national efforts to revolutionize community development practices.

A pipeline of community-led projects enters the portfolio with a clear owner, community benefit, and barrier to solve.

Blueprints matches the project to peer support, technical help, predevelopment resources, financing advice, and rapid problem-solving.

People experience a concrete gain: safer housing, lower energy burden, good jobs, community ownership, or resilience.

The wins are documented with stories; lessons become policy asks, practical tools, and a public case for continued investment.

We execute campaigns to influence policy debates and community development practices that change not just the “what” of infrastructure, but the “how.”

BLUEPRINTS FOR BELONGING NETWORK

Alexandra Gallo, Former Special Advisor, U.S. EPA*
Amar Cid and Ena Lupine, Strategic Growth Council*
Building Power Resource Center
Casa Familiar
Center for Community Investment
Chandra Farley – Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Atlanta*
Elevate Energy
Emerald Cities Collaborative
Emi Wang, Community Investments Officer, Bay Area Air District*
Full Spectrum Labs
Stacey Grant, Coordinator, Minnesota Technical Assistance Collaborative
Just Solutions
Little Manila Rising

Alexandra Gallo, Former Special Advisor, U.S. EPA*
Amar Cid and Ena Lupine, Strategic Growth Council*
Building Power Resource Center
Casa Familiar
Center for Community Investment
Chandra Farley – Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Atlanta*
Elevate Energy
Emerald Cities Collaborative
Emi Wang, Community Investments Officer, Bay Area Air District*
Full Spectrum Labs
Stacey Grant, Coordinator, Minnesota Technical Assistance Collaborative
Just Solutions
Little Manila Rising
Marina Tomer, PhD, Resilience Collaborative Program Manager, State Resilience Office, Maine Office of Community Affairs*
MidCity Can
Non-profit Finance Fund
People’s Economy Lab
PRE Collective
Resources Legacy Fund
Rich Soltz, Immigrant and Refugee Policy Advisor for the King County Executive Office*
UCLA Luskin Center
Upright Consulting
USDN

Marina Tomer, PhD, Resilience Collaborative Program Manager, State Resilience Office, Maine Office of Community Affairs*
MidCity Can
Non-profit Finance Fund
People’s Economy Lab
PRE Collective
Resources Legacy Fund
Rich Soltz, Immigrant and Refugee Policy Advisor for the King County Executive Office*
UCLA Luskin Center
Upright Consulting
USDN

*Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement by or association with the organization

Partnerships and relationships underpin everything that Blueprints for Belonging aspires to achieve.

As such, the foundation of this initiative is rooted in a core group of organizations that are leading on the ground work, the intermediaries that support them, the strategists that are taking the on-the-ground experience to develop state and national narratives, policy playbooks, and political strategies to scale our breakthroughs.

OUTCOMES AND MILESTONES

18 to 24 months

Narrative

Execute a multi-platform communications, narrative, and advertising strategy that spotlights real stories, celebrates wins, and evokes joy, solidarity, and urgency that increases public trust and visibility for community-led models.

Project Delivery

A tailor made project development methodology that includes project development benchmarks with associated support systems (funding and technical support) that is deployed to support projects in the Blueprints for Belonging portfolio to achieve shovel readiness and overall project delivery.

Strategy Development

Use policy labs, narrative campaigns, convenings, and leadership development to redefine what “successful” climate and economic development looks like. Publish the inaugural Blueprints for Belonging agenda.

Movement Building

Establish the inaugural Blueprints for Belonging Network, the core group of organizations that are leading on the ground work and enact a stakeholder engagement process that includes webinars, in-person strategy sessions, policy-labs, learning fieldtrips, and convenings.

3 to 10 years

A durable, justice-centered civic infrastructure

A national movement of community leaders, practitioners, local government officials, and allies actively reshaping markets toward public purpose and challenging incumbent interests. Legislation and regulations at city, state, and federal levels that embody mission-oriented governance principles are adopted, a shift in culture shift where public investment is understood as an active choice to shape markets toward justice, and returned public value flows back into communities through innovative capture mechanisms, funding a next generation of mission-driven infrastructure investment.