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History

The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCDI) has a 30+ year history of supporting local communities to create positive and sustainable change using the skills, assets and talents community members have within their own neighborhoods. The organization began at Northwestern University in 1993 and was founded by John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann after the publication of their book, Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Towards Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets. The findings were the result of a four year project of knocking on doors across the blocks of over 20 cities and asking neighborhood residents, what have you done, or have seen done on your block, that has created positive change? The stories told were analyzed and at their foundation held in common six assets. The assets of individuals being the most important as it appeared in almost every story. Contrary to the popular belief of the time that some neighborhoods were only filled with deficits, ABCD made visible the array of ways that ordinary people were making positive changes to their communities.

ABCDI considers local assets of individuals, associations, local institutions, the physical environment, the local economy and local culture the primary building blocks of sustainable community development, The Institute supports organizations and associations in designing systems that allow for co-creation between those traditionally considered clients or recipients of services and those who offer the services. This seemingly simple idea, that those who experience hardship, know best what they need to flourish, allows organizations to co-create with community members, utilizing their local knowledge and ideas, as opposed to merely serving them.

After becoming a 501C3, the Institute moved in 2016 to DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois and joined the Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning and Community Service Studies. Here, the ABCD Institute continues to grow and support all types of practitioners in asset-based community development theory and practice - from local grassroots organizations to non-profits, higher education and philanthropy. ABCDI aims to create a paradigm shift in the way the field of community development operates and centers residents in decision making.

Our ABCD community is composed of local leaders throughout the United States and the globe, all working on community-led change efforts. We facilitate these leaders coming together to share stories, practices and tools. All of the programming and training we offer is created, supported and delivered by our network of community leaders and community development professionals.

At the core of the ABCD Institute is its mission to provide workshops and training to those who would like to begin using an Asset-Based approach in their communities. Over the past several years the Institute has run training workshops at DePaul University and in person workshops nationwide. During the pandemic the ABCD Institute has pivoted and put together a robust series of virtual 18-hour introductory and more in-depth training that manage to capture much of the relationship building that our in-person workshops provide. These virtual workshops also have the advantage of bringing together leaders and participants from across the globe.