The initiative will help community foundations leverage community leadership to coordinate local efforts, build their own plans for civic health improvement, access resources to carry out this important work, and learn from one another.
What is civic health and why does it matter?
Civic health refers to the strength of relationships among individuals, between people and institutions, and between residents and the places they live. Strong, ongoing connections between residents, robust relationships between people and public institutions, and positive attachments between community members and the places they live are highly correlated with a range of positive outcomes, from better physical health to higher employment rates to better resilience in the face of natural disasters.
Civic health encompasses civic education, local journalism, volunteerism, bridge-building, participation in government, and many other activities that engender agency and trust among individuals and institutions.
Civic health is based on the civic readiness of individuals – the knowledge, beliefs, skills, and connections that people need to contribute to their communities and build common ground. Civic health also relies on residents having access to a range of civic opportunities – all the spaces and infrastructure supported by community foundations, governments, school systems, and other institutions. These opportunities allow people to learn, apply, and improve their civic readiness.
When these supports are weak, people of different backgrounds and political perspectives are less likely to communicate or work together, which exacerbates partisan polarization. When these supports are distributed inequitably, they deepen economic and social inequities.
Civic Health Wheel
Our Work So Far
2025 was a year of learning for Community Foundations for Civic Health. We convened virtual sessions that attracted more than 100 community foundations and held an in-person summit in Chicago that was attended by more than 70 community foundation leaders. In all, we engaged 168 community foundations represented by 235 Chief Executive Officers and other leadership team members, which represents the involvement of foundations from 45 of the 50 U.S. States and more than 15% of all U.S. Community Foundations. This robust participation underscores unprecedented enthusiasm for civic health initiatives. The depth of engagement and practical ideas generated demonstrate that there isn’t just philosophical interest; there is excitement and readiness to learn and act.
Through our 2025 engagements, community foundations identified key barriers: limited unrestricted funding, the need for skill-building and network development, the difficulty of navigating language in polarized times, and impact measurement challenges.
Save The Date
September 9 – 10, 2026 | Location TBD
We are pleased to invite community foundation staff, board members, and philanthropic partners to participate in the 2026 Community Foundations for Civic Health Annual Summit, a national convening focused on civic health trends, field learning, and emerging priorities shaping the future of community leadership. Stay tuned for more information about the Summit!
Support this work
We invite fellow philanthropic organizations, funders, and partners across sectors to join us. By working together to strengthen civic health, we can ensure that our communities are not only more resilient but also more equitable, inclusive, and capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century. To learn more about supporting this work, please contact Sarah Aguirre Origer, Director of Partnerships and Innovation, at soriger@cfleads.org.