The heart of the office's work is community development. Believing that all communities have strengths and assets to draw on for any desired change, we work to design and implement collaborative capacity building approaches that strengthen our partner organizations to catalyze personal, institutional, and community transformation for the public good. We hold that “community development involves changing the relationships between ordinary people and people in positions of power so that everyone can take part in the issues that affect their lives. It starts from the principle that within any community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if used in creative ways, can be channeled into collective action to achieve the communities' desired goals" (Community Development Exchange).
Our local community development project is supported by our formal partnership with the .
In articulating the following Community Development Priorities, we affirm our commitment to the for sustainable rural communities, and also to the University's vision of sustainability in its Sustainability Master Plan.