Nothing about us without us: community development as human resource development

ABSTRACT

This article reports the findings from an exploratory and qualitative case study to understand how 34 leaders from 17 community-based non-profit organizations located in a municipality within the United States described their community development roles. Interviews with study participants evidenced that they conceptualized community development as processes to facilitate learning, organize community, and develop leaders. The findings revealed intersecting principles and practices among the adult education, community development, and human resource development (HRD) disciplines. This research advances scholarship that seeks to expand the boundaries of HRD and better understand the roles and contributions of non-profit organizations in community and societal development.

KEYWORDS:

• Community development
• non-profit organization
• societal HRD
• roles

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).