Who We Are
PSG champions citizen engagement and smarter growth policies and implementation.
Our Mission
Our mission is to educate and engage the communities in the Richmond region to work together to improve quality of life by guiding where and how we grow.
Our Vision
Our vision is a Richmond region connected by vibrant, vocal citizen groups in each of the 9 localities, monitoring and influencing where and how our communities grow and championing strong public participation in local planning. Our vision is an educated and engaged business community actively pursuing an economic model that strengthens the communities it serves. Our vision is a Richmond region unified through smarter growth: reinvestment in our existing infrastructure, preservation of our farms, forests, and open spaces, and linked land use and transportation solutions.
Our Goals
- PSG provides programs to educate and engage the communities in the Richmond region about smarter growth and the interconnected issues of land use, transportation, housing, food security, conservation, revitalization, and economic development integral to quality of life.
- PSG cultivates and equips engaged citizens to participate in land use and transportation planning processes, such as Comprehensive Plan updates, in their communities. PSG identifies and encourages leaders to form local citizen groups that work closely with neighbors, elected officials, and local government, to educate, organize, and advocate for smarter growth.
- PSG cultivates business leaders whose efforts are shifting the region's economic system to smarter growth.
- PSG shapes planning processes and defines and promotes smarter growth policies in local communities and the region.
- PSG clearly and effectively communicates our policy positions, education and engagement tools, and vision for citizen engagement and leadership.
- PSG has the leadership, structure, and staff support to effectively fulfill our mission.
- PSG has the funds to effectively fulfill our mission.
Our Core Values
- Careful Planning and Preparation
Through adequate and inclusive planning, ensure that the design, organization, and convening of the process serve both a clearly defined purpose and the needs of the participants. - Inclusion and Demographic Diversity
Equitably incorporate diverse people, voices, ideas, and information to lay the groundwork for quality outcomes and democratic legitimacy. - Collaboration and Shared Purpose
Support and encourage participants, government and community institutions, and others to work together to advance the common good. - Openness and Learning
Help all involved listen to each other, explore new ideas unconstrained by predetermined outcomes, learn and apply information in ways that generate new options, and rigorously evaluate public engagement activities for effectiveness. - Transparency and Trust
Be clear and open about the process, and provide a public record of the organizers, sponsors, outcomes, and range of views and ideas expressed. - Impact and Action
Ensure each participatory effort has real potential to make a difference, and that participants are aware of that potential. - Sustained Engagement and Participatory Culture
Promote a culture of participation with programs and institutions that support ongoing quality public engagement.
Our History
A group of citizens met for the first time in May 2004 following the Building Better Communities conference in Richmond to discuss the effect of haphazard growth on quality of life in metropolitan Richmond. The consensus was that the problem was urgent enough that the issue called for a new entity to educate the public, to organize in Richmond and surrounding communities, and to advocate specific solutions. A core group formed a Steering Committee for the new organization and immediately began meeting to develop a formal organizational structure, to raise funds, to hire staff, and to map out a strategy to achieve more balanced growth and development in Greater Richmond. By June the new entity had been formally established under the auspices of the Education Fund of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. At the July 19, 2004 meeting, the Steering Committee chose the name Partnership for Smarter Growth (PSG) for the fledgling organization.
Richmond's Capitol Building