"Just think what communities and organizations could do if they had 100% enthusiastic participation. Just think what they could do if cynicism was transformed to hope!"

Kouzes. James & Barry Posner, Credibility, How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It.

The ACC Center for Community-Based & Nonprofit Organizations assists community-based and nonprofit organizations to be more effective by helping strengthen their organizational capacity. It promotes professional and volunteer leadership learning through its learning opportunities/ workshops, Board Development workshops, publications, web site, resource libraries, comprehensive database of nonprofits, electronic forum, partnerships and other services. Center services are customer-oriented.

Learning opportunities are competency-based, focusing on clarifying individual and organizational roles, responsibilities and expectations, Emphasis is on individual staff or volunteer roles to be as effective as they can be. Networking, comparing services/ benchmarking and collaborating with others within the nonprofit community promote individual and organizational growth. Creative and strategic thinking is emphasized to strengthen nonprofit practitioners’ own sense of mission and their ability to be effective change agents in environments where there are scarce financial and other resources.

Center workshops are concrete, pragmatic, inspirational, motivational and equip participants to immediately apply their learning experience.

As a community partnership, the Center facilitates and brokers connections between the business community and nonprofit sectors, promoting greater utilization of business and educational assets so they can be leveraged to strengthen nonprofits’ ability to achieve their diverse missions.

As an established educational institution whose mandate is to strengthen opportunities for citizens living within its service area, Austin Community College is the natural home for the Center for Community-Based & Nonprofit Organizations.