SCI's mission is to strengthen communities by connecting diverse individuals and organizations through civic engagement initiatives. We envision a nation where individuals are strongly connected to their neighbors and play an active role in shaping the destiny of their communities. This increase in 'social capital' will result in communities that are safer, healthier and more vital.

SCI's board of director's recently adopted a new strategic focus for achieving our mission and vision. The need today is great to revitalize communities, improve our schools, protect the environment, improve access to health care, and so much more. Today’s leaders must collaborate in this time of scarcity, leverage social networks, connect with citizens who are stressed and stretched, and motivate people to volunteer to serve their community and the nation.

Today’s emerging leaders, young and old, must learn how to be Social Capitalists. Social Capitalists possess a unique set of skills and attitudes that enable them to collaborate effectively, make connections, bridge differences, and nurture social networks to make a difference. They are catalysts for addressing the challenges we face. The good news is that Social Capitalist skills can be taught; and SCI is uniquely positioned to help emerging leaders acquire and develop these essential qualities.

Our strategic focus places the development of new Social Capitalists squarely at the center of all our work. SCI aims to be the premier organization for developing the new generation of Social Capitalists so needed in today’s communities. Over the next year, we will be codifying seven years of SCI’s experience into a state-of-the-art curriculum for Social Capitalists. We will maximize our impact by providing emerging leaders with the training and tools they need to be effective Social Capitalists.

Our top priority during the next year will be to develop our comprehensive Social Capitalist Curriculum and make further plans as to how we will roll out this curriculum and related tools. We will use an initial version of the curriculum in 2009/10 year to train 220 new Social Capitalists, who will recruit 1,600 individuals to participate in civic life. The training will start with our AmeriCorps members, who will develop teen leaders and implement outreach and technology initiatives.  More information on our plans for the next year can be downloaded here, our current program locations can be found here.