Building the community spaces ecosystem across North America.
Community Spaces Network is a peer-driven network, innovative thought leader, and resource-rich convener for the social purpose real estate field across North America. We are:
- Nonprofit shared space operators and developers
- Community and nonprofit leaders
- Nonprofit real estate professionals and developers
- Community finance professionals
- Social justice advocates building power through land control
- Architects, planners, and construction professionals
- Government and economic development practitioners
- Affordable housing and land trust professionals
Together we work to grow the collaborative network necessary to create community-serving, community-owned real estate assets, so that ultimately social purpose real estate leaders can support greater impact in local communities.
Our Why
CSN envisions a future where every community has access to the space it needs to be sustainable, healthy, and vibrant. From a social justice angle, real estate is an effective tool for shifting power. Social purpose real estate are buildings and spaces that are owned and operated by mission-driven organizations for the purpose of community benefit, like nonprofit centers, libraries, parks, and affordable housing, and are examples of how real estate can have a ‘social purpose’ and positive impact. CSN supports the social purpose real estate field and works to increase the capacity and effectiveness of the nonprofit sector and the communities they serve by supporting local leaders in the development and operations of nonprofit centers and other quality community serving spaces. With a history of 20 years, our organization supports local community leaders through:
Our Network
Comprised of community members from nonprofit real estate projects and organizations across the US and Canada, the network is a dynamic, adaptive, supportive community where solutions and tools around shared space are exchanged daily. Our network in numbers:
- 20 years building the SPRE movement
- 39+ states & provinces in our membership community
- 450+ individual members
- 2500+ total conference attendees
- 500+ community spaces identified representing
19 million square feet, housing 8,500 organizations,
employing 35,000 people
