Austin Coming Together

Austin Coming Together (ACT) envisions a thriving Austin community whose actions are driven by the core values of unity, commitment, transparency, collaboration, and action. We hope to change Austin's reputation as one of Chicago's most dangerous neighborhoods and show all the beautiful assets our community has to offer. ACT’s mission is to increase the collective impact of its member organizations on education and economic development outcomes in Austin.  The role of ACT is to function as the backbone agency for collective impact. Since ACT was formed in 2010, we have been guiding a collective vision and strategy for Austin, aligning activities of our 50+ member network to ensure they are mutually reinforcing, establishing shared outcomes and measuring the impact of our members, and facilitating continuous communication with the broader community to build public will, advance policy priorities, and mobilize resources.   

There are hundreds of organizations, institutions, and community leaders that passionately serve Chicago’s Austin area children and families and are deeply committed to addressing the challenges we face in Austin. We believe they are worth investing in. Unfortunately, due to the size, complexity, and need for resources in Austin, efforts by these leaders and organizations are often uncoordinated, disjointed, and small in scale.

In 2016, ACT developed Thrive 2025, a strategy that focuses the efforts and resources of our member organizations on improving 4 critical community well-being indicators by the year 2025:

1. Increase the percentage of 3rd grade students exceeding state reading and math standards in Austin.
2. Increase the number of families living above the federal poverty line in Austin.
3. Decrease the rate of violent crime in Austin.
4. Stabilize the median residential property value in Austin.
   
   

In order to work towards these indicators, the Thrive 2025 strategy will catalyze the collective impact of our members and other important stakeholders through 3 strategic imperatives:

1. Continuous improvement of human services.
2. Attract public and private investment through community organizing and planning.
3. Build capacity for policy change.