Relationships
To know each other enough to call each other expands our abilities, creates less duplication of work, and enables us to be a better resource for others.
We are a West Virginia community development network reinforcing strategic guidance and capacity support statewide.
We strive to be inclusive, impactful, innovative, constantly learning together, collaborative, transparent, and optimistic.
We work to support partners in the community development system, strengthen the system, pioneer new thinking, build sustainable relationships, and emphasize community.
Our long term priorities are to engage young people, build trust within the Community Development system, identify and create collective impacts, increase capacity within the Community Development system, build shared strategies, build and share resources, share success stories, increase funding, and bring about policy change.
The Importance of Building A Network
Networks benefit us all in our individual and collective work by focusing on 4 things*:
Clarity of Vision
Getting on the same page for a vision. If we are on the same page and thinking alike, we will be working collectively even in our own area of work.
Coordination and Collaboration
What we can not do by ourselves that we could do together? Focus on issue areas, geographic areas, and address systemic challenges.
Collective Clout
Allows us to build power to go after bigger resources, like funding or policy change.
Network Building Support
Fifteen West Virginians participate in our network’s Steering Committee to identify shared challenges and opportunities and guide network collaboration to create collective impact.
Our Journey
Since 2019, more than 500 West Virginians have been a part of building the Community Collaborative Network. They have gathered to do things like map the sectors that make up West Virginia’s community development system, identify critical needs and opportunities that could be addressed through better coordination between groups working on community and economy building, and share strategic guidance, and build up the infrastructure and leadership needed for a new statewide network to function well.