Finding purpose in community development
Have you ever found it challenging to articulate what you do? I've been crafting and re-crafting my 'community development' elevator pitch for years. I find my kids are a good test audience. With their limited attention spans, to succeed in explaining things to them I have to be succinct, clear and compelling.
Sometimes I find myself wishing that communicating to others what I do for a living was as simple as saying 'doctor', 'teacher', 'lawyer', 'shop manager'. One-word labels that conjure immediate recognition and understanding of your role in society have an appeal. In contrast 'community development' elicits polite nods generally accompanied with a puzzled look that says, “ummmm sounds interesting but what does it mean?”
I know I’m not alone. During my time in local government my peers echoed my frustrations, especially as they tried to communicate what they do within their own organisations and demonstrate value to those who hold the purse strings – often planners, engineers, human resources and finance professionals. In the absence of a universally accepted definition of community development, and to overcome confusion, we often default to activity-based explanations; the events we run, the programs we spearhead, the opportunities for organisations to share information and learn from each other that we initiate. This creates some sense of the diversity and volume of our work but leaves the audience with a disjointed list of seemingly separate activities without an understanding of the glue that holds all our activities together; the purpose behind what we do and the impact this has. It certainly doesn’t pass the ‘my children understand what I do for a living’ litmus test. And our frustrations are even more heightened because the ‘why’ of what we do means so much. This inability to articulate our role leads at best to confusion and at worst to a devaluing of our work and a reluctance to invest in it.
The reality is that there is immense diversity in what we do. This diversity is something I love about community development work. From the grass roots practical support we provide to help communities achieve their goals to the systems level strategic thinking required to develop collaborative solutions to complex social problems – an ordinary day in the life of a community development professional may be as varied as setting up for a cooking class in the morning and workshopping solutions to entrenched disadvantage in the afternoon. Because our roles are so varied and diverse, I’ve discovered the key to talking about community development is to shift the conversation from what we do, to why.
Deep down community development professionals are driven by the belief in the power of communities to solve problems and create a brighter future. We are powered by our purpose that seeks to unlock the potential within communities and enable collaboration between organisations and the people they serve. By understanding and effectively working with communities, organisations can harness opportunities, address complex issues, and foster positive social change. This is often where the purpose of community development practitioners and the purpose of the organisations with which they work intersect.
Since establishing my own consultancy practice at the beginning of this year I've worked on my succinct, compelling explanation of the ‘what and why’ of my work. I've used a number of different terms to describe myself depending on the audience - community development practitioner, community strategist, social change facilitator, community engagement specialist. I’m also getting better at explaining it to my kids. So far, they seem to favour ‘breaking down barriers to make peoples lives better.’ In terms of the purpose, being the person who brings people together to harness opportunities and solve complex problems by utilising a kaleidoscope of perspectives is where I have landed.
I chose to pursue a career in community development to fuel my deep passion for helping communities be the best they can by coming together and solving problems collaboratively. This purpose has seen me undertake research overseas, implement pioneering solutions close to home, meet a broad spectrum of people across our diverse community, and have the privilege of listening to individual and collective views, while helping achieve broader aims. The title might be a mouthful, but I think the purpose that sits behind our work makes for a very fulfilling career and a pretty good elevator pitch.
