About us
Commonweal Conservancy is a nonprofit conservation-based community-development organization dedicated to forging deep and sustaining connections among people, land, and the built environment.
In our commitment to integrating the goals of environmental protection and community building, we acquire signature landscapes that define a community's sense of place and spearhead the planning, entitlement and development processes associated with inclusive and engaging place-making. Our practice of integrative conservation development aims to provide for public needs such as affordable housing, educational opportunities, and economic development—as well as the need for substantial open space that's protected, accessible, and deeply cared for.
A spirit of positive collaboration guides our work. We are committed to providing exceptional service to our partners and to encouraging an organizational culture of alliance making and skill sharing.
Our Goals
Commonweal's work is designed to contribute tangible social, economic, and environmental value to communities and landscapes that are especially vulnerable to the rapid pace of urban and suburban growth. We hope this approach also fosters positive relationships between people and their environment— a less tangible benefit, perhaps, but a critical one nonetheless.
Our land protection activities include the acquisition, conservation, and restoration of culturally, economically, and environmentally significant property for use as:
parks, playgrounds, community gardens, plazas, and trails;
critical wildlife habitat and open space; and
cultural and historic interpretive sites.
Our community-building activities include all aspects of the real estate development process in order to facilitate:
economically diverse neighborhoods, including new affordable housing, workforce housing, and other forms of mixed-income residential development;
new schools, libraries, youth development opportunities, and community centers;
local-serving employment and other economic development projects;
community-scale water and energy efficiencies; and
opportunities for public transportation.
Commonweal Communities, a wholly owned subsidiary of Commonweal Conservancy, manages the market-rate real estate activities of Commonweal's community development initiatives.