Community Impact

Our Impact – Promoting Dialogue, Cultivating Leaders, Changing Communities

Community Tampa Bay is committed to its vision of a community free from all forms of discrimination in which every individual is treated with dignity and respect. Accordingly, our work has three areas of focus: promoting dialogue, cultivating leaders, and changing communities.

Promoting Dialogue is at the foundation of our work. Through dialogue, rather than debate, we share our knowledge, views, concerns, and goals with others in an open setting, in return welcome others’ viewpoints, and together act inclusively to reach consensus. Each year community Tampa Bay works with over 2,500 individuals on learning how to communicate effectively through dialogue.

Community Tampa Bay cultivates leaders who are uniquely prepared to address discrimination and to recognize opportunities for increasing diversity, inclusion, and engagement in their communities. Through our in-depth programs including ANYTOWN™ and our volunteer training institutes, Community Tampa Bay provides workshops and trainings that not only promote dialogue, but allow participants to understand their own social identity engage in cross-cultural interactions, and develop a positive vision for change. Each year 1,200 high school students, middle school students, and adults representing all facets of our communities learn to recognize the negative impact of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, and as leaders in their schools, workplace, or community are equipped with tools and techniques that can positively impact the situations they face.

Community Tampa Bay strives for systemic positive change in our communities. Since its inception twenty years ago our diversity education leadership program, ANYTOWN™ has had over 4,000 graduates. Those that completed the program recently are serving as leaders in their school communities. Graduates from the early years of our program serve in positions of community leadership as business executives who impact their companies’ internal environments promoting inclusion and fair treatment for all. They also serve our community collectively as federal congressional staff members, teachers of our children, television anchors reaching wide audiences, and everyday citizens, all equipped to address opportunities for understanding diversity, being inclusive to all, and engaging others in dialogue for positive change.