Transmission Project

At Community Partners, we believe in the ability of social innovators and entrepreneurs to bring positive change to their communities.

Social innovators and entrepreneurs are individuals who identify solutions to community needs and then actively respond. For example: they are advocates who want to educate immigrant workers on their rights; funders who want to increase their grantees’ effectiveness; government officials who want to bridge the digital divide; business leaders who want to see one million trees planted in LA; teachers who want to see their students eat healthy, sustainable food; and actors who want to bring theater to the inner city.

At Community Partners, we provide social innovators and entrepreneurs like these the support and infrastructure needed to advance their ideas into action.

For emerging leaders of civic and community projects, we handle finance, HR, and legal needs; help them develop their idea into a funded project; connect them with their peers and leaders in the community; and equip them with the tools and training to grow an effective, sustainable project.

For experienced social innovators and networks of established stakeholder groups, we provide the knowledge and means to get new ideas and coalitions off the ground in a matter of weeks.

For funders, we provide skilled management of program offices, peer convenings, regranting, and capacity-building programs that strengthen their impact in the community.

What we provide enables social innovators and entrepreneurs to do what they do best - make change happen. Since 1992, we have supported, trained, and invested in more than 500 social innovators and entrepreneurs tackling every imaginable social issue. They have come from the core of our vibrant communities and from every station of civic life: government, foundations, business, the social sector, and neighborhoods everywhere.

The Collins Center, named in honor of Governor LeRoy Collins (served 1955 – 1961), was established in 1988 as a statewide nonprofit organization to seek out creative, non-partisan solutions to Florida’s toughest issues. Throughout our history, we have strived to uphold the principles maintained by Governor Collins– public and private integrity, deliberative democracy, environmental stewardship and economic fairness.

While we conduct comprehensive and quality public policy analysis, what makes the Collins Center unique is our desire to see changes in public policy implemented. To take an active role in putting these changes to the test. According to Collins Center president Rod Petrey, “We don’t just study problems and write position papers. We actually implement pilot projects and experimental programs to determine how our resolutions to problems will work. Then we’re able to share this information so others can use the knowledge.”

Since 1988, we have focused on many problems that have changed the lives of Floridians and impacted state policy.

We have heard Floridians speak with great passion about their voting rights and the importance of knowing their vote counted.
We have seen looks of relief on the faces of homeowners when they were able to reach a settlement with their insurance company following a life-threatening hurricane.
We have witnessed young men from Overtown give testimony before congressional representatives in Washington on the critical impact men’s health care has on low-income neighborhoods.
We have awarded small businesses and other organizations for new and creative ways to protect the environment while maintaining economic success.
We have received heart-felt thank you letters from people who received much needed medical attention through the efforts of our Community Health Workers.
We have worked in the Overtown community, just north of downtown Miami, to begin new development that will provide residents with new housing options, new job opportunities and a positive step toward returning this historic neighborhood to a vibrant community.
We have established a mortgage foreclosure mediation program to help resolve disputes between homeowners and their mortgage lenders, allowing many families to stay in their homes.