A Note from the Chair and Vice Chair of CDS – July 2025

Career-changing Opportunities

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

Much of the work in community development is, by its nature, local. We work with defined groups and places to support collaborative decision-making and action to improve the livelihoods of those in communities. While the work is often people and location specific, we also need a larger community. We need a place to share stories of local development, to learn from success and failures, compare contexts, and to identify those common foundational principles of good practice.

This is the importance of having a professional development organization like the Community Development Society (CDS). CDS provides the opportunity to compare our stories so that we might draw conclusions about the nature of our work. CDS offers a professional venue to be recognized for our contributions to the field. CDS provides a professional audience through which we can seek council, advance our credibility, expand our scope of impact, and provide leadership in this field. Please consider ways you might become involved in CDS through giving, volunteerism, workshop hosting, committee work… there are many ways to be involved in the society. An investment of your time and expertise through CDS can become a career-changing opportunity!

Please reach out to admin@cdsociety.org to engage in CDS’ mission.