Helping communities thrive isn’t easy. It takes hard work. It takes resources. And it takes a lot of passion.
But at Spire and Base, we know that even the communities that have been harmed and ignored the most have that kind of greatness right below the surface. It’s just a matter of organizing that potential and then matching it up to the investments – in people and in places – that communities deserve.
Fortunately, there are people all over the country that are working to make communities more just and more sustainable places, and they’re committed to learning and developing strategies that get us all closer to that future. Unfortunately, those same people tend to be underpaid, under-resourced and strapped for time.
Spire and Base is here to help. We’re committed to supporting learning, research and strategy that actually means something – that practitioners and residents can put to work right away. Our job is to help you tap into the history and culture of place-based work to develop dynamic, creative and authentic strategies for moving places forward – in both aspirational and realistic ways.
Eyes toward the sky,
Feet firmly on the ground.
It reaches toward the sky.
Our work helps people push toward the horizon, envisioning how we can all help communities get even stronger. We center what makes communities communal in the first place. We look beyond the typical focus on what we need to fix inside communities and examine what puts communities in challenging circumstances in the first place, as well as all the assets and resources communities already have. We delve deep into the history, stories, culture and policies of places … and how they connect to national trends and national movements. We take time to get under the surface to look at root causes – and challenge ourselves to think about what’s possible beyond the status quo. Throughout our work, we focus on making it clear why the success of communities matters … and why we should all be fighting for that success.
But it starts from the ground up.
Even while we aim for higher aspirations for communities’ futures, and higher expectations for what communities deserve, we work hard to ensure that our work is practical and grounded in the realities of today. We weave the individual stories of places together to show what makes them collectively strong. We recognize that buildings and streets and parks are important, but that at the end of the day, community is about the people who live and work together – and how their specific needs and hopes and fears overlap. We ground our work in the wisdom of residents and practitioners – both to center their understanding of community and to make sure that whatever we produce is of actual, concrete use to them. And throughout, we try to make all of our learning, research and strategy work accessible so that everyone is invited to contribute to a shared vision.