Place-Based Strategies: A Powerful Approach to Community Transformation
Communities nationwide face pressing challenges, from economic instability and declining public services to environmental and health disparities. With federal funding for social programs shifting, organizations, local agencies, and community groups are seeking sustainable ways to meet the needs of those they serve.
One powerful response is place-based strategy, which centers solutions within the affected communities and leverages cross-sector collaboration to create meaningful and sustainable change. While not the only approach to driving transformation, place-based initiatives have successfully addressed systemic issues in response to local contexts.
At Coleman Strategy Group, we believe place-based strategies work best when they are community-driven, equity-centered, and structured for long-term sustainability. Our role is to support organizations and communities in designing and implementing these initiatives by facilitating inclusive, adaptive processes that ensure lasting impact.
Our Approach to Place-Based Strategy
We collaborate with communities, organizations, and cross-sector partners to create customized, equity-centered strategies that reflect a specific location’s unique assets and needs. Our work includes:
Liberatory Design – An equity-driven approach that prioritizes community voice and challenges systemic barriers by deeply engaging those most impacted in the design and decision-making process.
Adapted Collective Impact Approaches – We modify traditional collective impact models to be more inclusive, ensuring they reflect local realities and allow for emergent strategies rather than rigid top-down frameworks.
Systems Change & Policy Alignment – We help communities align place-based efforts with broader policy and systemic change, ensuring that local initiatives are not isolated efforts but part of long-term transformation.
Formative Learning & Adaptive Assessment—We prioritize ongoing reflection, learning, and adaptation within collaborations and organizations, ensuring that place-based partnerships continuously evolve to meet community needs. By integrating qualitative and quantitative insights, we help partners assess their progress in real time and adjust strategies accordingly, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and shared learning.
Through these and other methods, we work together to provide communities and organizations with the tools, partnerships, and processes necessary to foster meaningful, locally owned change.
Why Place-Based Strategies Work
Place-based strategies are effective because they:
Prioritize Local Knowledge & Leadership – Solutions designed with and by the people directly impacted are more relevant, sustainable, and responsive to local realities.
Foster Cross-Sector Collaboration – By engaging private industries, public agencies, nonprofits, and the community, place-based initiatives tap into diverse expertise and funding sources, reducing dependency on a single funding stream.
Build Community Capacity & Infrastructure – Beyond solving immediate challenges, these initiatives help strengthen local institutions, networks, and leadership, making future challenges easier to navigate.
Encourage Adaptive, Data-Informed Decision-Making – By using real-time data, initiatives can remain flexible and adjust to changing conditions rather than following static, pre-determined solutions.
Address Root Causes, Not Just Symptoms – Unlike one-time interventions, place-based work focuses on systems-level change, tackling policies, practices, and conditions perpetuating inequities.
These elements make place-based approaches a compelling strategy for sustainable transformation, particularly as communities navigate shifting funding landscapes.