The following case study on the TransFormation Alliance (TFA) showcases SPARCC’s contribution towards systems change work in Atlanta. TFA’s story is an example of how leveraging SPARCC resources to engage community members and organizational stakeholders can lead to equity-centered planning and community power building to advance policies and capital projects.
The case study digs into what TFA learned along the way, highlights nine capital projects, and demonstrates how community development, when rooted in racial equity and community priorities, supports community resilience.
Check out the case study here.
TFA learned that gathering new partners together led to cross-sector problem solving, leading TFA to pursue complementary, not competitive, work. TFA also focused on building trust and community power with their members and redirected funding to community-led projects through grants, training, and fellowship opportunities.
Beyond community-level structures, TFA also dedicated resources to build political power and advance collective priorities developed with communities. SPARCC supported these new practices, processes, and priorities and enabled TFA to assess achievable collaborative work, resulting in political priorities uniquely tailored to Atlanta’s context. The alliance developed policy papers on racial equity, health, mobility, climate, housing, and jobs, which guided their work and supported their power sharing efforts. TFA’s policy advancement work included inclusionary housing and transportation plans, racial inequities in city planning, increased funding for the arts, and reducing traffic-related deaths.
TFA’s strength lies in their commitments to bringing community members and stakeholders together, fostering trust, reflecting community need, and using collective power to drive systems changes. They challenged the norm of excluding community input resulting in advancements for racial equity in Atlanta. We hope you take the time to read more about its success here.