The Center for Civic Partnerships' mission is to provide leadership and management support to build healthier communities and more effective nonprofit organizations.

We are a support organization that strengthens individuals, nonprofits, and communities through facilitation and leadership development and by fostering community engagement. For over twenty years, the Center has been a recognized leader in the Healthy Cities and Communities movement and has provided support to hundreds of local governments and nonprofit organizations in health, human services, and community development fields. The Center for Civic Partnerships is a center of the Public Health Institute.

Click on the links below to learn more about the Center's current programs and services or scroll down to read more.

California Healthy Cities and Communities
Organizational Development Training & Consultation
Organizational Learning and Evaluation Conference

New Publication

Aging Well in Communities:
A Toolkit for Planning, Engagement & Action

Eighty million members of the boomer generation (born between 1946 – 1964) have reached or are approaching the traditional retirement age of 65. These boomers overwhelmingly want to age in place. Yet few communities are prepared to meet the needs of older residents, or to engage these residents in civic life.

In response, the Center for Civic Partnerships created Aging Well in Communities: A Toolkit for Planning, Engagement & Action.

Click here for expanded information about this cutting-edge publication!

CA Healthy Cities and Communities

A Healthy City/Community promotes a positive physical, social and economic environment that supports the well-being of its members.  The Program brokers programmatic and financial resources by working closely with local, regional and statewide organizations to support Healthy Cities and Communities efforts throughout the state.  Healthy Cities and Communities have leveraged over $40 million and obtained valuable community building resources for local Healthy City/Community efforts. More Healthy Cities and Communities Information.

Celebrating 20 Years - Laying the Foundation, Leading the Way

In 2008, the CA Healthy Cites and Communities celebrated 20 years of success in California. What began in 1988 as a vision of bringing the World Health Organizations's Healthy Cities model to California, has grown and flourished to become the largest and longest running statewide program of its kind in the nation. To recognize this milestone, the Center for Civic Partnerships released an important brochure which highlights some of the significant outcomes, successes and accomplishments that have been achieved over the life span of the program. Click here for a full PDF version of the brochure.

A Legacy of Accomplishments

We recognize and congratulate the 70 plus communities that have participated in the program. They have worked tirelessly creating more livable and healthier places for all. Their collective accomplishments are very impressive! Click here to view the Center for Civic Partnership's most recent publication highlighting the continued progress of several early CHCC participants.

Printed copies of both publications are available by contacting the Center for Civic Partnerships at (916) 646-8680 or chcc@civicpartnerships.org.

Improving Livability in Healthy Cities

Click here to see how our current CHCC grantees are improving the health of their communities!

Connections Newsletter

To view the current (Spring 2010) issue of the CHCC newsletter, Connections, click here. For previous issues of Connections, click here.

The CHCC project is administered by the Public Health Institute under contract with the California Department of Public Health, supported by the Preventive Health Services Block Grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Research to Support Community-Based Healthy Aging

The Center is continuing its research into promising practices, developing new resources and pilot testing products with municipal leaders and their partners to assist with planning, policy development and resource decisions which are conducive to aging in place.

Organizational Development Training & Consultation

Let us help you organization succeed! Our Organizational Development Training & Consultation team can provide tailored technical assistance and training to help you focus strategically on your mission and build the necessary capacity to strengthen your nonprofit organization.  We can provide support and training on topics such strategic planning, program sustainability planning, board and staff development, and succession planning.  Click here for more information about how we can directly support your organization.

Read about our Organizational Development Accomplishments in our Publication:

Profiles of Success

In 2002, The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) provided a grant to the Center for Civic Partnerships (the Center) to conduct an assessment of the needs of TCWF grantees and to develop a responsive technical assistance model.  Based on the findings, our own research of best practices, and our substantial experience in the field, the Center developed a capacity-building model called the Organizational Development Services (ODS) program, which was funded from 2004 through 2009.  Over the course of the program, the Center worked with 109 participating organizations, providing tailored capacity-building support and technical assistance.

The Center’s work with these participants in the ODS program has provided us with a unique and valuable perspective regarding the opportunities and challenges facing nonprofit leaders in California.  The ODS program concluded in 2009 and this report provides a retrospective of the program and lessons learned. Click here for a full PDF version of the report. To view expanded profiles of program participants, click on the individual links below.

Aspen Baker - Exhale

Cynthia Babich -Del Amo Action Committee

Lisa Culp - Cultivating Strategic Planning and Evaluation

Dori Rose Inda - Strengthening Sustainability

Terry Stone - Creating a Legacy of Capacity-Building

Wenonah Valentine - Bolstering Emerging Leaders

Christine Zapata - Delivering Customized Technical Support

Organizational Learning and Evaluation Conference

Funded by a Grant from The California Wellness Foundation

The Organizational Learning and Evaluation Conference enhances the capacity for organizational and evaluative learning among grantee organizations of the California Wellness Foundation.

News Corner

CHCC Speakers Forum

The 2010 CHCC Speakers' Forum was held on April 22 at
The California Endowment Conference Center in Oakland.

Keynote speaker, Dr.Jason Corburn, author of "Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning", discussed his book
and work bridging planning and public health.The Forum included
a presentation, reaction panel with question and answer session, and networking opportunities.

Click here to listen to the
audio files from forum.

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CHCC
Connections

The Spring 2010 Connections is now available!

This edition features an article on planning for an aging community and highlights the Center's latest resource product
Aging Well in Communities:
A Toolkit for Planning, Engagement &
Action.

Click on the link above for a PDF version of Connections.

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Organizational Learning and Evaluation Conference and Presentation

Brian Talcott, Organizational Development Specialist at the Center for Civic Partnerships, and Aspen Baker, Executive Director of Exhale, presented on Becoming a Learning Organization at The California Wellness Foundation's Organizational Learning and Evaluation Conference on May 13, 2010. Their presentation and Ms. Baker's experience founding a learning organization are featured in an entry on the Exhale blog.

Click here to read the entry.

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Oxford Journals Publishes CHCC Evaluation Article

Evaluation Findings on Community Participation in the California Healthy Cities and Communities Program
Michelle C. Kegler,; Julia Ellenberg Painter; Joan M. Twiss; Robert Aronson; Barbara L. Norton Health Promotion International 2009

As part of an evaluation of the California Healthy Cities and Communities (CHCC) program, resident involvement, broad representation and civic engagement beyond the local CHCC initiative were evaluated.

To view Abstract and obtain more information, click here.