America has built starkly unequal communities, systematically excluding Black people and other people of color from places rich with resources and opportunities, while depriving the communities in which they live from essential investments, services, and supports. Place-conscious initiatives—which put people at the center of strategies to restore disinvested communities—can help tackle these persistent challenges. In this brief, we pose five guiding principles for place-conscious strategies: (1) confront racism, (2) build resident voice and power, (3) work both horizontally and vertically, (4) plan for residential mobility, and (5) commit to accountability and continuous learning. We draw upon experience from The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative to illustrate these principles, demonstrate what place-conscious work looks like in practice, and acknowledge inherent challenges and tensions.