Every community has unique and varied resources, or capitals, it can leverage to support the well-being of its residents. These capitals include typical economic assets, such as the wealth and property of local residents and institutions, as well as cultural institutions, community connections, the natural environment, and other resources.

This project explores how the Community Capitals Framework can help communities, philanthropic organizations, and impact-minded investors align programming and investment decisions with local opportunities. The framework—developed by sociologists and advanced by the Heron Foundation—is a useful tool (PDF) for understanding community assets and capacity.

To demonstrate how to apply the framework, we selected three topics of interest for the impact-investing field: climate resilience, economic diversification, and the role of an anchor institution. In the resources below, we explore metrics that capture human capital (i.e., the skills and experiences of residents), natural capital (i.e., the environment and natural amenities), civic capital (i.e., trust, values, and culture), and economic capital (i.e., economic systems and infrastructure), and identify gaps in and opportunities for investment.