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A sustainable community seeks to protect and enhance the environment, meet social needs, and promote economic success. On average, local governments lack meaningfully connecting their environmental and economic sustainability efforts to equity and social justice. Community-based organizations (CBOs) have emerged as local leaders with a growing capacity for pursuing community sustainability. Based on data from a national survey National Community Action Partnership member organizations, this study explores (1) how CBO leaders define sustainable communities; (2) how important each of the three pillars of sustainability are to their mission; and (3) with what organizations do CBOs collaborate in their pursuit of sustainable communities. A content analysis of responses to an open-ended query to define sustainable communities revealed a significant focus on the social equity pillar of sustainability which is closely linked to economic sustainability. Similarly, CBO leaders ranked social equity and economic sustainability as the highest priority for their core mission. Lastly, CBO leaders heavily engaged in local collaboration in their sustainable community efforts. Therefore, serious pursuit of sustainable cities and communities must shift from a go-at-it-alone, centralized government approach to more inclusive, collaborative efforts that take advantage of the economic-social equity sustainability focus of CBOs in both planning and implementation.
Tony Reames; Nathaniel Wright. The Three E’s Revisited: How Do Community-Based Organizations Define Sustainable Communities and Their Role in Pursuit of? Sustainability 2021, 13, 8825 .
AMA StyleTony Reames, Nathaniel Wright. The Three E’s Revisited: How Do Community-Based Organizations Define Sustainable Communities and Their Role in Pursuit of? Sustainability. 2021; 13 (16):8825.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTony Reames; Nathaniel Wright. 2021. "The Three E’s Revisited: How Do Community-Based Organizations Define Sustainable Communities and Their Role in Pursuit of?" Sustainability 13, no. 16: 8825.
Community-based nongovernmental organizations have emerged as leaders in local economic development, with a growing capacity for undertaking community sustainability projects in distressed neighborhoods. Very little is known about what organizational and managerial characteristics contribute to community sustainability performance. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature. Survey data from 134 community action agencies in the U.S. were analyzed to determine which organizational and managerial factors influence the effectiveness of community-based organizations in meeting community sustainability goals. The findings from an ordinary least-square regression model suggest that community engagement, human resource capacity, county/regional government collaboration, government funding, and revenue diversification are important predictors of community sustainability performance.
Nathaniel S. Wright; Tony G. Reames. Unraveling the Links between Organizational Factors and Perceptions of Community Sustainability Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Community-Based Nongovernmental Organizations. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4986 .
AMA StyleNathaniel S. Wright, Tony G. Reames. Unraveling the Links between Organizational Factors and Perceptions of Community Sustainability Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Community-Based Nongovernmental Organizations. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (12):4986.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNathaniel S. Wright; Tony G. Reames. 2020. "Unraveling the Links between Organizational Factors and Perceptions of Community Sustainability Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Community-Based Nongovernmental Organizations." Sustainability 12, no. 12: 4986.
Community-based nonprofits have been recognized by funders and policymakers as a vital component in the revitalization process in distressed neighborhoods. Though research on the effectiveness of these organizations has expanded in recent years, very little is yet known about what internal management characteristics and conditions in their local environments contribute to their performance. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature. Using survey data from 122 NeighborWorks nonprofit organizations in the United States, this article examines what internal management factors and external environmental factors influence the effectiveness of community-based nonprofits. The findings from an ordinary least squares regression model suggest that performance indicators, political capacity, board governance, and organizational age are important predictors of community-based nonprofit effectiveness.
Nathaniel S. Wright. Transforming neighborhoods: Explaining effectiveness in community-based development organizations. Journal of Urban Affairs 2017, 40, 805 -823.
AMA StyleNathaniel S. Wright. Transforming neighborhoods: Explaining effectiveness in community-based development organizations. Journal of Urban Affairs. 2017; 40 (6):805-823.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNathaniel S. Wright. 2017. "Transforming neighborhoods: Explaining effectiveness in community-based development organizations." Journal of Urban Affairs 40, no. 6: 805-823.