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Few Americans are aware of the steady build-up of innovative community wealth building strategies throughout the United States. Community-Wealth.org brings together, for the first time, information about the broad range of community wealth building activity.

It is vital that we understand the physical nature of wealth so we can envision and build economic systems that are capable of (1) reducing chronic inequality in the world; (2) recognizing the inherent value of nature as a foundational building block for any economic system; and (3) exploring the 'design space' of all possible economic systems to find those best suited for planetary sustainability.

The problem of poverty More than 46 million Americans live below the official poverty line-which is now approximately $22,314 for a family of four-and 16.4 million children are poor in this country. Inequality of wealth has reached record highs-it is greater than at any time since 1929. Growing portions of the nation's wealth are concentrated in the possession of a small fraction of households, while more than one third of the U.S. population is trying to get by on incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line-or about $44,000 for a family of four. Well before the current economic crisis, 6 million low-income households were paying more than half their income on rent and utilities, or lived in severely substandard housing. And the most recent data for 2010 revealed that 48.8 million people, including 16.2 million children, lived in a household struggling against hunger.

Can we create an economic system-beginning at the local level-that builds the wealth and prosperity of everyone?

Advancing a new understanding of democracy for the 21st century and promoting new strategies and innovations in community development that enhance democratic life. Promoting new strategies and innovations in community development that enhance democratic life. The Collaborative is a national leader in the field of community development through our Community Wealth Building Initiative. The Initiative sustains a wide range of projects involving research, training, policy development, and community-focused work designed to promote an asset-based paradigm and increase support for the field across-the-board.

The Democracy Collaborative was established in 2000 to advance a new understanding of democracy for the 21st century and to promote new strategies and innovations in community development that enhance democratic life. Our goal is to change the prevailing paradigm of community economic development-and of the economy as a whole-in the United States toward a new emphasis and system based on: Broadening ownership and stewardship over capital Democracy at the workplace Stabilizing community and emphasizing locality Equitable and inclusive growth Environmental, social, and institutional sustainability The Collaborative is a national leader in the field of community development through our Community Wealth Building Initiative. The Initiative sustains a wide range of projects involving research, training, policy development, and community-focused work designed to promote an asset-based paradigm and increase support for the field across-the-board.

Despite its remarkable achievements during the 20th century, the economic system of the past cannot continue into the future without a fundamental transformation. The science is irrefutable. The exponential growth of compound investment returns and, by extension, the exponential growth of the economy's material throughput demanded by the financial system, has positioned our global economy on a collision course with the finite physical boundaries of the biosphere. At the same time, this relentless and narrow pursuit of exponential growth of returns on invested capital, without reference to universally acknowledged moral and ethical values, is contributing to an ever-widening and destabilizing wealth gap, and security crises around the globe.

BALLE believes in the power of local businesses to transform communities for the better by working cooperatively toward a shared vision. We imagine cities and towns of every size and political stripe engaged in shared learning to build community assets like sustainable agriculture, green building, renewable energy, community capital, zero-waste manufacturing and independent retail - what we call the building blocks of Living Economies. We envision a time when local economies not only generate community wealth, but also are catalysts for civic action, social diversity and ecological health -- for sustainable communities.

The Center for American Progress held a forum on economic growth and equality. After opening remarks from Vanessa Cárdenas and Angela Glover Blackwell, members of the first panel talked about the link between economic growth and equality. Economist Emmanuel Saez in his presentation used graphs to show the relationship between equitable distribution of wealth and economic growth.

Collectively, we have it backwards. The vast majority of our amassed intelligence and imagination is consumed by commerce, from grand efforts to build wealth to granular activities like selling movie tickets and deodorant. While we donate some time and treasure, efforts that serve the greater good are severely undermanned.

There may be something inevitable about the structural changes that have made American manufacturing less central to our economy, but there is nothing inevitable about the waste, pain and human despair in cities that have accompanied that change. There are policy alternatives that can soften such transitions in ways that preserve wealth and promote equality. Just four hours from Detroit, Pittsburgh, too, grappled with white flight. But it more rapidly shifted its economy from one dependent on steel and coal to one that emphasizes education, health care and legal and financial services.

Design Impact collaborated with the Tarsadia Foundation, Newport Beach, CA in 2013 to launch the publication Design and the Social Sector: A Guide to Partnering. Funded by the Tarsadia Foundation, the purpose of this guide is to provide practical insights, tips and tools developed specifically for designers interested in working with non-profits on social design projects. It includes a wealth of information on building healthy relationships, evaluating your own capacity, setting realistic expectations, and developing strong collaborative goals.

IAP2 has a wealth of resources available assist organizations, decision makers, policy makers and practitioners to improve the quality of the public participation work.  The following resources are protected by copyright by the International Association for Public Participation and may be used for information purposes.

The mission of the Center for Partnership Studies is to catalyze movement towards partnership systems on all levels of society through research, education, grassroots empowerment, and policy initiatives. CPS's programs focus on promoting human rights and nonviolence, gender and racial equity, childhood development, and new metrics that demonstrate the financial contribution of the work of caregiving.

"The e-learning programme consists of four dimensions: Social Design, Ecological Design, Economic Design and Worldview., each contained in an eight-week period.  You will learn skills and effective methods to collaborate with others in regenerative design for societal transformation and the creation of thriving communities within vibrant regional economies. The course will explore case studies and best process examples that demonstrate how regenerative cultures use energy and materials with greater efficiency, distribute wealth more fairly and strive to eliminate the concept of waste, in order to regenerate the material, energy and social resources they depend upon as much as possible at the local and regional scale. "

"Regenerative communities are emerging in both urban and rural areas across every continent. The global Regenerative Communities Network honors and connects these efforts with a digital learning platform and through a long-term cycle of on the ground support. "

ICIC's mission is to drive economic prosperity in America's inner cities through private sector investment to create jobs, income and wealth for local residents. ICIC brings together corporate and financial leaders with public officials, civic groups and foundations to develop business-led solutions to challenges facing inner city economies.

Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) was originally conceived as a bridge between people who wanted to put their money to work "in their own backyard" and nonprofit organizations that serve low-wealth families and communities who need those dollars most. The mission of the Chicago Community Loan Fund is to provide flexible, affordable and responsible financing and technical assistance for community stabilization and development efforts and initiatives that benefit low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, families and individuals throughout metropolitan Chicago.