Bridging Differences

by MIchelle DeHaven Quast

Increasingly, conversations in the Foundation industry (community, private, and corporate-based) are revolving around the intersection philanthropy, civic health, and economic mobility and growth. Why, you ask? Because, along with partners from the public and private sectors, these conversations and the fruit they bear are becoming tools which enable forward-thinking communities to course-correct for misdirection of the past and put themselves on a path toward a better future for everyone.

Thriving economies don’t exist in a vacuum; they grow out of healthy communities. The relationship between community involvement, community investment, civic health, and economic development is a powerful, self-reinforcing cycle where gains in one area directly fuel progress in the others. 

Cultivating community involvement—through activities like those umbrellaed under The Foundation for Northwest Illinois’ Jane Addams Center is often where this journey begins. Community involvement breeds a shared sense of belonging, community, a realization of the greater good, which leads to a better understanding of and desire for civic health.

Civic health is a measurement of how actively residents engage with their community and each other. Oft achieved through a “social infrastructure network”—clubs, parks, community properties like libraries, recreational centers, parks, and the like, CSA groups, farmer’s markets, and so on—these community gathering opportunities encourage neighbors to interact, connect based on commonalities, and build trust on common ground. High civic health means a community has high social capital. People feel a sense of ownership, vote in local elections, volunteer, and look out for one another.

An increase in civic health can create a platform from which community members can collectively encourage community leaders for a call to action. This sparks community investment—a collaborative and coordinated strategic effort of public, private, and non-profit sectors in invest in a community’s future. Investment in public spaces, affordable housing, reliable infrastructure, local institutions and amenities, but it is doing more than just building physical structures—it is creating an environment where people want to live, stay, and grow. All people.

Robust civic health is a massive catalyst for economic development. Businesses don’t just look for tax breaks; they look for stability, safety, a talented workforce, a healthy community with a strong sense of pride. A community with strong civic health naturally produces these qualities. High social trust lowers crime rates and streamlines local governance. Furthermore, vibrant, civically engaged neighborhoods attract and retain top talent, creating a reliable workforce that draws in external businesses and fosters local entrepreneurship.

When economic development thrives, it generates new tax revenues and private wealth. In a healthy cycle, these financial gains are channeled back into the community as further investment—funding better schools, updating infrastructure, and expanding public resources.

There is no magic to it. No shining-knight industrial or community developer riding in on a white stead. No quick fix. No if only the other fill-in-the-blank would just (again) fill-in-the-blank.

It takes hard work, cooperation, respect, communication, long-term commitment, compromise, humor, caring, and a belief in the greater good. It takes resources—time, people, research, and, yes, financial investments. It takes faith that a rising tide indeed does lift all boats.

Community Foundations play a multi-faceted role in this process, as connectors, convenors, thought catalysts, collaborators, and, yes, check-writers. Why? Because community foundations are designed to represent everyone, simultaneously, in perpetuity. They are neutral, with roots in the past, while acting in the present to preserve the promise of a future for everyone. No other entity can serve that role.

In my role as President / CEO for The Foundation for Northwest Illinois, I am currently participating in the invitation-only the Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort is hosted by the Council on Foundations in partnership with the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at UC Berkeley. This facilitated virtual learning experience, which runs through November, provides participants with opportunities to engage in science-based practices for bridging differences, connect with peers, and learn from leading researchers and practitioners in philanthropy and nonprofit sector. The goal: to strengthen our ability to bridge differences across race, culture, ideology, and geography. To cultivate a fertile environment where civic health not only takes root but flourishes.

Over the coming months I will share more on what I am learning, how it is shaping our work here at The Foundation for Northwest Illinois, and how you can get involved as we come together to ensure all residents have a voice in shaping their communities and our region’s future.