What We Do

The Foundation for Community Development and Empowerment’s (FCDE) philosophy is deeply rooted in and committed to positive sustainable development practices that uplift communities and make comprehensive and lasting change. Sustainable development theory looks holistically at the depth and scope of social, economic and environmental concerns. It can be viewed as a framework by which communities begin to address expressed needs, utilize their own resources efficiently, build on the strengths of the people, create more stable infrastructures, enhance quality of life, and create new opportunities to strengthen economies. We have ensured that our programs offered, partnerships formed, and successes measured will impact the communities in which we work in a just and sustainable way.

FCDE sees people as key agents of change in their communities and research has shown that this ‘local knowledge’ or ‘community knowledge’ is key to promoting sustainable localized development practices. We use the embedded knowledge, established institutions, and best practices of professionals and community members in the region as a starting point for our work. Acting as a catalyst, FCDE plays an active and ongoing role in helping communities move development efforts forward by strengthening our partner organizations’ capacity building. We draw upon a number of tools and processes to help each of our 15-25 local CBO partners develop and mature including; skill building workshops, individualized organizational support, intern placement and expertise, institutional self-assessment administration, grant making, identification of funding opportunities, and the creation of a resource center for communities to use.