Current Projects

Sun City Festival Legacy Leadership Institute - Mobilizing residents of this active adult community to utilize their areas of expertise, expand their leadership skills, and act upon their volunteer spirit to help build capacity for non-profit organizations and strengthen social service systems throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area (University of Maryland, United Way).

Litchfield Park Assessment – Working with the City of Litchfield Park to assess the role of a recreation/community center in building a sense of community and meeting life quality needs of residents.  The PCD is engaging residents in focus group discussions to explore their vision for the future of the Litchfield Park Recreation Center and its role in bringing together community members of all ages (City of Litchfield Park).

Maryvale Project - Partnering with the ASU Center for Violence Prevention on a powerful project to address the many manifestations of violence and explore the pathways of hope to overcoming these aspects of violence within the Maryvale community.  This project will focus on combining the existing social capital (assets, gifts, and talents) of residents with innovative, promising practices of civic engagement that will help to increase life quality in Maryvale  (ASU Center for Violence Prevention).

Eloy Strategic Planning – Providing strategic planning and facilitation services for the Eloy City Council to determine its vision, issues, challenges, strategic priorities, and action planning processes for the future.  (City of Eloy) . 

West Valley Human Services Alliance – founding partner and continuing participation in a multi-sector partnership formed within the West Valley to identify human services needs and issues, develop collaborative plans and implement effective change.  As one of many partners in the Alliance, the PCD provides facilitation and expertise on community development and planning (Maricopa Association of Governments, Arizona Department of Economic Security, Valley of the Sun United Way, Quality of Life Community Services, and many more).  

West Valley Resource Coalition – founding partner and continuing participation in a multi-sector partnership focused on providing networking and monthly capacity-building workshops for West Valley human services organizations.  As one of four organizing agencies for the Coalition, the PCD provides facilitation and access to speakers within the ASU system (Valley of the Sun United Way, Quality of Life Community Services, Southwest Community Network).

Anthem Legacy Leadership Institute – providing leadership training for community development, community governance, and human services infrastructure development in a rapidly developing planned community (Pulte Homes, University of Maryland, UPS Foundation). 

Arizona Department of Economic Security Service Integration -- developing a prototype for structural change in service delivery for the state’s largest agency, and developing models for integrating faith communities, non-profits, and other governmental agencies in responding to human service needs (Arizona Department of Economic Security, Casey Family Programs).

Verrado Leadership Academy – working with Verrado community residents to provide a vision for life quality development in this “new town” community.  Community leaders are trained in community empowerment methodologies, and in the process for diagnosing community health.  (DMB Associates)

Verrado Leadership Academy (Teen Leadership) – implementing a social science framework for developing leadership skills among Verrado teens.  Identifying personal gifts/talents of teens, and targeting these assets to community development – both within Verrado and throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.  (DMB Associates)

Wickenburg Community Assessment – working with the Town of Wickenburg to create a roadmap for economic and life quality development in a way that preserves the values that are historically important to town residents.  The PCD conducted a community needs assessment exploring the assets, challenges, perceptions and visions of Wickenburg residents.  (Wellik Foundation)

Other Recent Projects 

• City of Surprise Tourism Development -- working with business leaders, city planners, and recreation, culture and arts organizations to develop tourism potential of a rapidly developing metropolitan area. (City of Surprise, Arizona).
• Community for All Ages Initiative - weaving inter-generational and inter-cultural community identity through the use of the arts (City of El Mirage, Arizona Community Foundation).
• Domestic Violence Project – quantifying the social and economic costs of domestic violence in Maricopa County (Maricopa Association of Governments).
• FireStar Fund Neighborhood Development Project - community action planning for Phoenix Council District 5 Fight Back Neighborhood (Valley of the Sun United Way, United Phoenix Fire Fighters Association, City of Phoenix, Stardust Foundation).
• Helping Hands for Single Moms – building non-profit organizational capacity for single working poor mothers to achieve college education through mentoring programs, housing support, and financial assistance. 
• Lifelong Learning Programs – assisting in the incubation and management of a diverse array of lifelong learning programs in Sun City Grand, Sun City West, Sun City, Sun City Festival, Sun City Merrill Ranch, Vistancia communities, and Verrado (Pulte Homes, Sunbelt Holdings, DMB Associates, Sun City West Property Owners Association, Sun City Recreation centers, Inc.)    
• Stories of El Mirage – weaving together inter-generational and inter-cultural community identity through the use of the arts.  Local artists, teen moms, and seniors participated in art projects, an exhibition of their artwork, social activities, and the creation of a documentary film capturing the rich history of the El Mirage community.  (Arizona Community Foundation, El Mirage Senior Center, Dysart High School, Rio Mirage Cafe Y Cantina)   
• Town of Buckeye – partnering with the ASU Global Institute for Sustainability to provide issues-based forums to fuse university and community interests in this rapidly developing community (ASU Global Institute for Sustainability).
• West Valley Scan – providing regional planning expertise in the human services–related arenas of transportation, education, community development, and health, wellness, and safety.  (West Valley Human Services Alliance, Arizona Department of Economic Security, Valley of the Sun United Way, Stardust Foundation)
• West Valley Human Service Network for Low Income and Homeless Populations– facilitating non-profit, government, and faith community focus on West Valley homelessness and working poor populations (Quality of Life Community Services, First United Methodist Church of Glendale).        

Arizona State University's West campus,  4701 W. Thunderbird Rd., Glendale, AZ 85306  1-602-543-6600