The Community Development Archive is a digital platform created to trace the evolution of community based organizing, development, and design through a guided timeline and a catalog of critical figures and organizations. The CDA is a collaboration between Designing For Democracy, Partner & Partners, and Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.

Community development is collective action by definition. The Catalog is our attempt to gather and organize the numerous individuals, organizations, legislation, and publications that have made a contribution to community-based development, design, and organizing. The catalog is meant to be a live database that grows over time as the movement continues to evolve. If there is an entry that you think should be included in the Catalog please email us at comms@anhd.org. For terms, time periods, and movements that are not so easily categorized, please head to the glossary to find a definition.

Association for Neighborhood
and Housing Development

ANHD is one of the City’s leading policy, advocacy, technical assistance, and capacity-building organizations. We maintain a membership of 80+ neighborhood-based and city-wide nonprofit organizations that have affordable housing and/or equitable economic development as a central component of their mission. We bridge the power and impact of our member groups to build community power and ensure the right to affordable housing and thriving, equitable neighborhoods for all New Yorkers. We value justice, equity and opportunity, and we believe in the importance of movement building that centers marginalized communities in our work. We believe housing justice is economic justice is racial justice. anhd.org

Designing for Democracy

Designing For Democracy (DFD) is a nonprofit research and design agency that expands the practice of architecture from a material focus on buildings to a humanitarian focus on the equitable, compassionate, and just stewardship of our surroundings. Through a rigorous research and engagement process, DFD reveals original narratives to inform, transform, and heal our communities and restore their ties to the land. designingfordemocracy.org

Partner & Partners

Partner & Partners was founded in 2013 and prioritizes projects and groups that promote social, economic, and environmental justice, with actionable visions for a just future. It is a worker-owned design practice focusing on print, exhibition, interactive, and identity work with clients and collaborators in art, architecture, government, and activism. partnerandpartners.com

Thank you

We would like to extend our gratitude to the following individuals for their contributions to the archive: Damaris Reyes of Good Ole Lower East Side; Margaret Groarke of Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Association; Deb Howard of IMPACCT Brooklyn; Yvonne Stennett of Community League of the Heights; Harry de Rienzo of Banana Kelly Community Improvement Association; David Shuffler of Youth Ministry for Peace and Justice; Mike Rochford of St. Nicks Alliance; Elizabeth Yeampierre of UPROSE; Frank Lang of St. Nicks Alliance; Tom Angotti of Hunter College; Thomas Yu, Asian Americans For Equality;  Marc Jahr of Forsyth Street Advisors, Kathy Dorgan of Dorgan Architecture & Planning; Anthony Schuman of New Jersey Institute of Technology; Ron Schiffman of Pratt Center.