Boulder County Circles Campaign

2012 NACo Achievement Award Winner

Boulder County, Colo., CO

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

The Circles Campaign, an innovative model of ending poverty, has been actively working to end poverty one family at a time in Boulder County since March of 2010. The Circles Campaign engages the entire community in its work, using a two-pronged approach to community involvement. One prong is a direct service model where the campaign recruits middle- and upper-income volunteers (who are called Allies) to work with directly Circle Leaders (members of low-income families who are committed and motivated to leave poverty behind). The other prong engages the community to join teams that work to promote the campaign and tackle systemic issues being faced by Circle Leaders. The Circles Campaign is founded on the principle of community ownership and relies on volunteers to provide the vision and leadership for the campaign. The motto is that the only way to end poverty is to build community.