Community Connectors Program

The Community Connectors program is administered by Smart Growth America with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Smart Growth America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities by linking housing, transportation, and land use. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a well-established private foundation that funds initiatives designed to improve health outcomes and advance equity. This partnership emphasizes the need to repair the damage caused by harmful transportation and infrastructure decisions, particularly those that divided communities in the past. The purpose of the Community Connectors program is to help small and mid-sized cities redesign and reconnect communities that have been negatively affected by dangerous or divisive roadways. Many highways and high-speed arterial roads were historically built through neighborhoods, disproportionately harming Black and Brown communities by physically separating residents, weakening local economies, and reducing opportunities for safe mobility. This program seeks to reverse these harms by promoting people-centered road redesign projects that prioritize safety, equity, and long-term transformation. The program is specifically focused on cities with populations between 50,000 and 500,000. Eligible applicants must apply as teams made up of both a local government entity and a community-based organization. This requirement ensures collaboration between municipal leadership and grassroots organizations, balancing technical expertise with on-the-ground community input. The teams selected will participate in a yearlong cohort that runs from September 2025 through June 2026, engaging in peer learning, project implementation, and convenings. Each awarded team will receive $25,000 in direct funding to support a temporary safety demonstration project, such as a Complete Streets initiative or other quick-build projects designed to test new community-centered approaches. In addition, each team may receive up to $20,000 worth of in-kind expert design support to strengthen project planning and execution. The program will also fully cover travel costs for participants to attend a required in-person convening in fall 2025, further enhancing opportunities for collaboration and shared learning among selected communities. The application process is currently open and will close on August 31, 2025. Interested applicants are encouraged to attend a program webinar scheduled for August 13, 2025, to learn more about the program and application requirements. Applications must clearly demonstrate how teams will address divisive or dangerous arterial roads, how they will center equity in their work, and how their project aligns with the program’s broader objectives. While specific evaluation criteria are not detailed in the public notice, the emphasis on equity-driven and people-centered approaches suggests that alignment with community needs will be a key factor in selection. The program does not indicate any requirements for matching funds, and there is no information provided regarding the total number of awards expected across the cohort. The program is national in scope but explicitly limited to cities meeting the population requirements within the United States. All applicants must ensure their team includes both a municipal partner and a community-based organization to be considered. For further information, applicants are directed to Smart Growth America at their Washington, DC office, or through the general contact email info@smartgrowthamerica.org.

Attend webinar on August 13, 2025 to learn more about the program