About Us

Founded in 2000, the Community Building Institute (CBI) helps public entities, organizations, coalitions, and foundations build inclusive and collaborative processes to make progress on challenging public issues.  CBI’s expertise in consensus building, strategic thinking and planning, civic engagement, facilitation, and complex process design helps foster the development of agreements that drive transformative change.  In addition, CBI works with organizations, creating strategic plans, facilitating boards, fostering staff development, and guiding strategic positioning.

CBI is led by William Potapchuk, a veteran facilitator, mediator, trainer and strategic coach who has helped shape the practice of facilitation and consensus building by his work and through contributions to leading textbooks and tool kits in the field.  Potapchuk has guest lectured at the University of Virginia, University of Maryland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell, Syracuse and George Mason Universities.  He has led workshops for organizations such as the University of Texas, American Public Transit Association, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, International Downtown Association, Leadership St. Louis, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, National Conference on Civic Renewal, numerous Neighborhood Colleges, and for five weeks throughout South Africa (1988).  Potapchuk also serves as a Senior Consultant for the American Association of School Administrators.

With a focus on transformative efforts to improve the wellbeing of children, youth and families, CBI has worked with public education systems, early care and education stakeholders,  initiatives focused on the whole child to build aggressive plans, guide implementation strategies, resolve conflict, conduct strategic planning processes, change governance mechanisms, and make change happen.  CBI also works with a wide range of community development projects, from empowerment zones to green building legislation.

Clients have included Newark Public Schools, District of Columbia Public Schools, Excellent Schools Detroit, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Skillman Foundation, Victoria Foundation, Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, American Association of School Administrators, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Coalition for Community Schools, Children’s Leadership Council, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, National Data Quality Campaign, National Women’s Law Center, Voices for America’s Children, Pre-K Now, North Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council, Race Matters Institute, the Maryland Governor’s Office for Children, Youth, and Families, and the North Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council and numerous local governments.