Collaborate to build a better world
“BE Community” is a call to action—an invitation to actively embody the principles of community in our work together. Rather than seeing community as something external or separate, it means embracing a way of living that fosters deep connection, mutual support, and shared purpose.
Paul Born’s approach to community emphasizes:
• Belonging – Creating spaces where people feel valued and accepted.
• Engagement – Actively participating in relationships and collective efforts.
• Care – Supporting and uplifting one another in meaningful ways.
- Collaborate to build a better world.
• Joy – Finding fulfillment through shared experiences and togetherness.
To “BE Community” is to consciously cultivate these values, making community a lived experience rather than just an abstract concept. It’s about shifting from “having” a community to “being” a community.
Paul Born is a Canadian social innovator and author renowned for his expertise in community development and collective impact. He co-founded and served as the CEO of the Tamarack Institute, a leading authority on community engagement and innovation. Additionally, he co-founded Vibrant Communities Canada, a network dedicated to reducing poverty and fostering community change.
Born has authored five books, including the national bestsellers Community Conversations and Deepening Community: Finding Joy Together in Chaotic Times. In Deepening Community, he outlines four pillars essential for cultivating deep community: sharing our stories, enjoying one another, caring for one another, and working together for a better world.
His contributions have been recognized with several honors, such as his appointment to the Order of Canada in 2019 and his designation as a Senior Global Ashoka Fellow. Born is also a recipient of the University of Waterloo’s Arts Alumni Achievement Award.
Currently, Born continues to support communities and organizations as a coach and trainer, focusing on achieving large-scale change. He resides in Waterloo, Ontario, with his family.
View his Full Profile on LinkedIn
5 Ways To Get Better Outcomes
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Involve everyone who cares to build a common agenda for change.
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Hosting Community Conversations can create the conditions to "unthink what is" and release old patterns, providing the clarity needed to identify what is holding your community back from realizing the breakthroughs they desire.
- Multi-sector Governance provides an opportunity to ensure that diversity and equity is at the center of everything you do.
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Lived experience leadership can help you listen to and empower those who will benefit the most if you are successful.
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Harnessing assets first, rather than focusing only on problems enables you to embrace what is possible.
The key is to Engage your community.
"Award-winning social entrepreneur, Paul Born is one of the most creative anti-poverty leaders of his generation. Unwilling to surrender to a problem many consider intractable, he brings singular commitment and expertise to the fight. In Breakthrough Community Change, he shares those insights with organizations, equipping them to collaborate, change failing systems and achieve impact at scale."
"Paul Born the head of the institute emphasizes that the crucial thing these community wide collective impact structures do is change attitudes. In the beginning, it’s as if everybody is swimming in polluted water. People are sluggish, fearful, isolated, looking out only for themselves. But when people start working together across sectors around a common agenda, it’s like cleaning the water”.
Discover a powerful methodology for bringing communities together to uncover hidden assets and transform deep-rooted challenges.
Community shapes our identity, quenches our thirst for belonging, and bolsters our physical, mental, emotional, and economic health.
Community Conversations captures the essence of collaborative change and offers ten practical techniques for hosting big conversations in your community.
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