Changing course: How community feedback transformed SGC’s engagement workbook
The Sustainable Growth Coalition (SGC), convened by Environmental Initiative, began 2024 with a clear goal for a subgroup of members to create a workbook that would help its members measure and improve environmental justice community engagement efforts. What the team didn’t expect was how community input would transform the tool into a stronger, clearer guide for organizations to follow.
Recognizing the need for meaningful engagement
The project started in 2023 and focused on developing environmental justice key performance indicators. The team quickly realized that scope was too large and focused in on a tangible outcome related to environmental justice community engagement. They settled on creating a workbook to help organizations in their engagement efforts.
Initially, the team planned to share a near-final version of the tool with community members for review before publication. However, a key part of this field of work is engaging community members early enough that they can offer meaningful feedback.
“One of the members of our workbook development team told us to pause,” said Tonya Draughn, project co-lead and senior partnership manager at Environmental Initiative. “They reminded us that if we were creating a resource about community engagement, we had to engage the community from the very beginning.”
That moment of reflection changed everything.
Redoing the work, together
In September 2024, SGC convened a community review panel, inviting organizers, advocates, and residents to share their perspectives. Reviewers asked for simpler language, interactive worksheets, and a structure that reflected real-world engagement.
“They wanted something people could actually use — something that felt practical and human,” Draughn said.
In response, the SGC team scrapped much of the developed draft and started over. They added a flowchart to guide users step by step through engagement questions: Which communities are you engaging? Why? How will you stay connected? They also rewrote dense sections into plain language and built new worksheets to make the tool actionable. Community reviewers reconvened in January to review and finalize these changes.
A new resource
The result is “Community Engagement Best Practices” — a living, fillable guide that helps organizations plan, assess, and sustain meaningful relationships with the communities they serve.
Beyond SGC’s business members, nonprofits and funders are also beginning to use the tool to plan equitable engagement from the start.
A model for collaboration
By fully incorporating community feedback, the workbook evolved from a collection of knowledge and resources to a distinct model for partnership. “We learned that the process matters as much as the product,” Britta Dornfeld, project co-lead and senior partnership manager at Environmental Initiative, reflected. “Community engagement isn’t something you add at the end. It’s how you build from the beginning.”
“Community Engagement Best Practices” is now available on the Sustainable Growth Coalition webpage under Tools and Guides. Download it today to assess your own community engagement strategies.