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This case study of the Council of Michigan Foundations' Peer Action Learning Network (PALN) is part of a report from New York University's Wagner Research Center for Leadership in Action. It explores the power of learning communities to build connections and knowledge to increase organizations’ community impact.

How do low-income communities learn to advance economically and build wealth? Low-income communities and communities of color, in challenging structural economic and social inequality, have historically grappled with tensions inherent to development. Who participates in, directs, and ultimately owns the economic-development process? In creating and sustaining new, inclusive economic institutions, how do community members cultivate and pass on skills, commitment and knowledge—especially among those who have long faced barriers to education and employment? And how should communities strike an appropriate balance between utilizing local knowledge and accessing outside expertise?

This publication from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations offers a framework for thinking about how to measure progress and results in place-based and community change initiatives.