Power to Change is the think-do tank that backs community business. We back community business from the ground up. We turn bold ideas into action so communities have the power to change what matters to them. We know community business works to build stronger communities and better places to live. We’ve seen people create resilient and prosperous local economies when power is in community hands. We also know the barriers that stand in the way of their success. We’re using our experience to bring partners together to do, test and learn what works. We’re shaping the conditions for community business to thrive.
Our vision for community businesses – we want communities to have the power to change what matters to them. We have set out the ambitions that we are working towards – for what community business can achieve and the change that we want to see.
Our Ideal Future For Community Business Is One Where:
- Communities can fully utilise their power. Through community business, communities have a greater say in the decisions that affect them.
- Communities contribute to an economy that works for people and plant. Through community business, communities balance enterprise and purpose to build prosperous local economies.
- Communities can achieve their aspirations and are resilient when faced with challenges. Through community business, communities make meaningful connections and build their social capital.
Shaping this future isn’t something we can deliver in isolation. We’re using our experience to bring partners together to do, test and learn what works. We’re working alongside community business to engage partners and stakeholders with whom we can deliver a supportive environment: policymakers and politicians, funders and social investors, and intermediaries and support organisations.
To read more about how we are backing community businesses, click here
We Apply Five Values To Everything We Do:
- We are open: We will seek partners and allies beyond the community business sector to better help the community business model go mainstream, and will be open about our learnings as we test and discover new approaches to community-led resilient places.
- We are bold: Our plans are ambitious, and we will continue to enter markets where we see community businesses could thrive, and boldly speak to decision makers alongside community businesses.
- We are informed: We will continue to work closely with community businesses and be informed by their lived experience and needs. We will approach new challenges with fresh eyes and take an evidence-led approach before rolling out solutions.
- We are collaborative: We will continue to work with existing partners and new ones, drawing on each other’s skills to achieve what we couldn’t do alone.
- We are authentic: We will integrate the priorities that we have for community businesses into our own practice. We will aim to advance dignity, justice and belonging in our own organisation, become climate positive, actively embrace digital transformation, and continuously build our own capacities in many areas.