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development. (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993) The Community Development Program at

Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research established the Asset-Based Community

Development (ABCD) Institute and it is based on three decades of research and community work

by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. The ABCD Institute focuses its efforts in two

areas: (1) through extensive and substantial interactions with community builders, and (2) by

producing practical resources and tools for community builders to identify, nurture, and mobilize

neighborhood assets and anchor institutions.

Since ABCD relies on existing community assets to create change, it has been criticized

for implying that disadvantaged communities have all the resources they need to solve community

problems. (Ennis & West, 2010) According to the ABCD Institute, however, ABCD methodology

recognizes that systemic injustice may require disadvantaged communities to seek assistance from

outside the community. ABCD maintains that interventions from exterior sources will be most

effective when a community’s assets are leveraged at full capacity. (Kretzmann & McKnight,

1993, p. 14) ABCD is described as a more sustainable model of community development than

needs-based community development, because needs-based approaches may perpetuate

community problems by emphasizing deficiencies and the necessity for reliance on outside

assistance. By contrast, ABCD aims to build capacity within communities by expanding their

social capital. (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993, p. 14) By working with outside resources and

simultaneously building trust within the community, more members can make use of a wider array

of strengths and create opportunity where it may not have been as accessible before.

To create the opportunity, to have voice, and thereby to exchange views in a public setting

is one thing, however, the manner in which participants engage with each other is crucial to the

success of such meetings.

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