Just as athletes rely on coaching to achieve their best, many communities and organizations have found that working with a coach can help them develop their capacity to work toward the community’s vision of the future. In many cases, this vision includes finding ways to create jobs, businesses, and wealth from within by supporting and generating entrepreneurship.

Community change coaches work with community leaders and groups as guides on the sidelines. Rather than offer solutions or strategies, they help communities identify strengths and design strategies that build on these strengths to create new assets and possibilities. Coaches also help to link community leaders to resources and best practices that, once tempered with local wisdom and expertise, can help communities reach their development goals. Coaches also help communities reflect on their work and learn from those experiences, and to recognize progress and take the time to celebrate those successes.

Getting outside advice can help communities appreciate the resources they may already have.

Generally community coaches live and work outside the community, but keep in regular contact with the community via email and phone. They also attend some community and task force meetings and will occasionally coach leaders on strategies for successful meetings and inclusive outreach. The coach’s goal is to help the community create new patterns of learning and working together that will enable them to be successful in creating new jobs, opportunities, and businesses, and in encouraging young people to consider a future within the community. Thus, one might say that the best community coach is one that no one notices when they are gone as the community has developed its own capacity to identify resources, share learning, and engage in reflection and celebration.

A number of private consultants work as community change coaches. Some community development cooperative extension programs are including coaching strategies in their work. Peer-to-peer coaching, where community leaders informally coach each other as they share successes and resources, is also growing in popularity. Networking with similar communities and those leaders that might become a coach or mentor can occur through associations or via informal exchanges.

Prepared by Mary Emery, Associate Director, NCRCRD