Purpose Built Communities

What Purpose Built Communities does

Purpose Built Communities is a national nonprofit organization founded in 2009 by Tom Cousins, Warren Buffett, and Julian Robertson to replicate the East Lake neighborhood transformation model in Atlanta at scale. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with 11–50 employees, the organization provides a holistic "Purpose Built Model" integrating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education, community wellbeing, and economic vitality as a single integrated intervention for struggling neighborhoods. The model is implemented not directly by the national organization but through a network of more than 60 local Community Quarterback Organizations (CQOs), approximately half of which have achieved formal Network Member status across 14 U.S. states.

Purpose Built operates as a center of excellence that supports its CQOs with a suite of services: measurement and evaluation coaching (tracking outcomes for 600,000 neighbors, 2,700 students, and 6,000 families), narrative and communications coaching via the proprietary "Where We Thrive" framework (developed with FrameWorks Institute), policy advocacy (including an annual Hill Day in Washington D.C.), peer exchange visits, leadership convenings, and the PBCx online knowledge platform. The annual "Prosperity Starts With Place" National Conference serves as the flagship convening, drawing 700+ attendees in 2026 in Jacksonville with Nemours Children's Health as Presenting Sponsor.

The organization is philanthropically funded, with no fees charged to Network Members. Revenue streams include major foundation grants (Bainum Family Foundation, Ballmer Group, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Cousins Foundations, Georgia Power Foundation, KPMG Foundation, Bluemeridian), corporate contributions (Target, Wells Fargo), conference sponsorship, and program-related partnerships. The leadership team is headed by CEO Carol R. Naughton (since 2020), with David Daniels (CEO of the Bainum Family Foundation) appointed Board Chair in January 2026 following the July 2025 passing of founder Tom Cousins.

Name

Purpose Built Communities

Legal name

Purpose Built Communities

Website

https://purposebuiltcommunities.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Purpose Built Communities is a national nonprofit that supports a network of 60+ local Community Quarterback Organizations across 14 states, delivering holistic neighborhood transformation integrating housing, education, health, and economic vitality. The organization operates as a philanthropically funded center of excellence serving local place-based nonprofits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Services

akta.pro primary industry

Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization (CDBG, Place-Based Initiatives) (BPAIANAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Capacity Building & Nonprofit Infrastructure Funders (BPAGAKAO), Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

Keywords

• Neighborhood transformation services
• Community development consulting
• Affordable housing strategy
• Nonprofit capacity building
• Community revitalization programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Foundation Support: As a philanthropically funded nonprofit, Purpose Built Communities receives support from foundations including Bainum Family Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and others to sustain operations and support Network Members
2. Corporate and Institutional Partnerships: Support from corporate foundations and institutional partners including Ballmer Group, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Georgia Power Foundation, Target, and others
3. Conference and Event Revenue: Annual Prosperity Starts With Place National Conference generates attendance fees and sponsorship revenue

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Purpose Built Communities is a national nonprofit that supports a network of more than 60 Community Quarterback Organizations (CQOs) in implementing the Purpose Built Model — a holistic framework integrating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education, community wellbeing, and economic vitality for sustainable neighborhood transformation. It provides free coaching, peer learning, data and evaluation support, narrative coaching, and policy advocacy to CQOs across 14 U.S. states, and convenes the annual Prosperity Starts With Place™ National Conference.

Product overview

Purpose Built Communities operates as a nonprofit organization with a single, integrated service offering: the Purpose Built Model for holistic neighborhood transformation. The organization does not sell separate software products but provides a comprehensive suite of support services to Community Quarterback Organizations nationwide. Key offerings include the Purpose Built Model methodology (integrating mixed-income housing, education, community wellbeing, and economic vitality), the annual Prosperity Starts with Place™ National Conference, Neighborhood Tours, and the Community of Practice network. Additional services include Data & Learning support, Narrative & Communications Coaching, Policy & Advocacy Support, the Peer Exchange Program, and the PBCx online platform. The organization supports over 60 Community Quarterback Organizations, approximately half of which have achieved Network Member status.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Purpose Built Model Holistic framework integrating mixed-income housing, cradle-to-college education, community wellbeing, and economic vitality for neighborhood transformation, driven by resident voices and led by local Community Quarterback Organizations.
• Community Quarterback Organizations Support

Quantifiable outcome

• 600,000 neighbors on pathway to holistic neighborhood transformation
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Nemours Children's HealthflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2026Nemours Children's Health served as Presenting Sponsor for the 2026 Prosperity Starts With Place National Conference in Jacksonville
• LIFT JAXcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2026LIFT JAX, a Purpose Built Network Member focused on revitalizing Jacksonville's historic Eastside neighborhood, co-hosted the 2026 conference
• FrameWorks InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2025Partnered with Purpose Built to develop 'Where We Thrive' narrative framework that shifts conversations around neighborhood transformation from barriers to possibility
• Primrose SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 May 2025Primrose Schools partnered on West Lakes Early Learning Center in Orlando; contributed $750,000 in in-kind donations and curriculum support
• Low Income Investment FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025LIIF partnered with Purpose Built on early learning initiatives, providing expertise and framework development for assessing climate risks in child-serving infrastructure
• Dr. Naava Frank / Knowledge CommunitiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Dr. Naava Frank supported Purpose Built's transition from one-on-one coaching to a Community of Practice model
• Tom CousinsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Tom Cousins was the visionary founder of Purpose Built Communities, along with Warren Buffett and Julian Robertson. His work began with the East Lake neighborhood transformation in Atlanta and inspired the national model for holistic community transformation.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): National nonprofit CDFI that finances and supports place-based community development across hundreds of neighborhoods, operating a network model very similar to Purpose Built's Community Quarterback approach.
• Enterprise Community Partners: National nonprofit that pairs affordable housing development with health, education, and economic mobility programming in distressed neighborhoods — directly comparable mission and integrated housing-plus-services approach.
• Living Cities: Collaborative of philanthropic and financial institutions working with cities on cross-sector place-based transformation; comparable in mission, funder base, and network orientation.
• NeighborWorks America: Federally chartered network of more than 250 community-based nonprofits delivering housing and neighborhood revitalization, structurally analogous to Purpose Built's Network Member model.

Emerging players

• Rebuilding Together: National nonprofit providing home repairs and community revitalization in distressed neighborhoods; narrower scope than Purpose Built but operates through a comparable local-affiliate network model.

Others

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Large national health-focused foundation that funds community wellbeing initiatives; one of Purpose Built's own funders and a comparable philanthropic peer in the place-based health space.
• Aspen Institute: Thought-leadership organization with place-based community development and economic mobility programs, including convenings that overlap with Purpose Built's conference and narrative work.
• The Kresge Foundation: Major national philanthropy that funds place-based community development initiatives and is a comparable funder-class actor in the same ecosystem where Purpose Built competes for grants.
• Bipartisan Policy Center: National policy organization that works on housing, economic mobility, and place-based issues — comparable to Purpose Built's policy & advocacy and Hill Day function.

Broad incumbents

• Habitat for Humanity International: Largest U.S. nonprofit focused on affordable homeownership and neighborhood revitalization; overlapping on the housing pillar but operating at far greater scale and with a narrower program focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/purposebuiltcommunities
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/purposebuiltcs
• Instagraminstagram.com/purposebuiltcommunities
• Xx.com/PurposeBuiltCS

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Purpose Built Communities