Association for Community Design

What Association for Community Design does

The Association for Community Design (ACD) is a U.S.-based nonprofit professional membership association founded in 1977 and headquartered in Minneapolis, dedicated to advancing equity and justice in the built environment through community design practice. It serves architects, planners, designers, students, design firms, academic institutions, and community design centers — a network spanning over 60 community design centers in the U.S. with international affiliates. Its core offerings include the Annual Conference (now entering its 49th iteration, ACD49 in October 2026 in Bozeman, Montana), a Fellowship & Mentorship program, a Research arm (featuring the Racial Justice Research project funded by the Surdna and Kresge Foundations), a Webinar Series (Core Community Conversations), the ACD Asset Atlas (a self-submission directory of practitioners), a Member Directory, and a Digital Resource Repository.

ACD operates a community-led, event-driven go-to-market model that acquires members through conferences, webinars, fellowship cohorts, and word-of-mouth within the community design field. Its revenue is generated through membership dues (Individual $70/year, Organization $130/year, Student $30/year, plus monthly sustaining tiers at $10 and $20), conference registration fees, and donations — supplemented by targeted foundation grants for research initiatives. The organization runs on standard nonprofit technology infrastructure (CiviCRM for membership, Backdrop CMS for the website) and distributes its programs through direct membership, regional conferences, virtual webinars, and a self-service directory. ACD is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors and operates without private equity, venture capital, or parent company ownership.

Name

Association for Community Design

Legal name

Association for Community Design

Website

https://communitydesign.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Association for Community Design is a 1977-founded U.S. nonprofit professional association that supports architects, planners, and designers working to advance equity and justice in the built environment through an annual conference, fellowship program, research initiatives, webinars, and a member network spanning 60+ community design centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

Keywords

• Community design association
• Professional design membership
• Design equity research
• Annual design conference
• Built environment justice

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual and monthly sustaining membership fees from individual practitioners, students, and organizations/firms. Members receive access to resources, networking, conference discounts, and voting rights on official ACD business.
2. Conference Fees: Registration fees for annual conferences (ACD49 and prior events). Conference serves as a key gathering for practitioners to share research, build coalitions, and facilitate exchange.
3. Donations: The organization accepts donations to support operations and programs, including special fundraising for digital resource repositories.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ACD is a nonprofit professional membership association serving community design practitioners, offering tiered membership (individual, student, organizational, sustaining), an annual conference, a fellowship & mentorship cohort, equity-focused research publications (including the Racial Justice Research project), webinars, the ACD Asset Atlas practitioner directory, and a digital resource repository. Members gain access to conference discounts, member-only workshops, research downloads, the member directory, and voting rights on official ACD business.

Product overview

The Association for Community Design operates as a professional membership organization offering a unified suite of programs and resources for community design practitioners. The core offerings include the Annual Conference (ACD49), Fellowship & Mentorship program, Research initiatives including the Racial Justice Research project, Webinar Series featuring Core Community Conversations, and the ACD Asset Atlas (a collective practitioner map). Additional member resources include the Member Directory and a Digital Resource Repository. All programs are designed to advance equity and justice in the built environment, with membership providing access to enhanced features and discounts across the portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACD Membership Programs Tiered membership programs (Annual Individual $70/year, Annual Organization $130/year with five voting seats, Annual Student $30/year, Sustaining Individual $10/month, Sustaining Organization $20/month) providing conference discounts, member-only workshops and trainings, webinar recordings, research downloads, member directory access, voting rights on official ACD business, and board eligibility.
• ACD Annual Conference ACD's flagship annual convening (typically 3-4 days) bringing community design practitioners together for presentations, workshops, tours, and networking. Hosted by local institutions, firms, or organizations at rotating US cities (e.g., ACD49 in Bozeman MT hosted by Montana Community Design Center at Montana State University; prior years in Chicago, New Orleans).
• ACD Fellowship & Mentorship Cohort-based professional development program for emerging community design leaders, combining webinars, group discussions, mentorship sessions, networking, and professional development modules. The inaugural 2015 cohort embedded a fellow within host firm Latent Design for a two-week intensive on a community design project with community partner Foundations College Prep.
• ACD Research Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60 community design centers operating in the U.S. with international affiliates, demonstrating field reach
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Justice AssistanceminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 December 2024Featured presenter in ACD's Core Community Conversations webinar series. Jason Terrell Minter, Housing Director at Justice Assistance, presented on the Renter Wealth Fund and hacking housing to narrow the racial wealth gap.
• Latent DesignminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Host firm for the inaugural ACD Fellowship 2015. The fellowship embedded a fellow within the architecture firm working on a community design project for a 2-week intensive experience.
• Foundations College PrepminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Community partner for ACD Fellowship 2015 hosted by Latent Design. Collaborated with the fellow and host firm to create microstructures as part of an outdoor classroom master plan in Chicago.
• Montana Community Design Center at Montana State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost organization for ACD49: Enduring Optimism annual conference in Bozeman, Montana on October 2-3, 2026. The center marks its 50th year with this partnership, creating space to reflect on the endurance of community design as both a movement and a practice.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• American Planning Association (APA): APA is the largest professional association for urban and city planners in the U.S. Community design practitioners often hold dual membership in ACD and APA. APA's broader scope and resources make it the most direct broad incumbent competing for community-oriented planning professionals.
• American Institute of Architects (AIA): AIA is the largest professional association for architects in the U.S. with 95,000+ members. While ACD focuses narrowly on community design and equity, AIA serves the broader architecture profession and increasingly incorporates community-focused programming, making it a broad incumbent that competes for the same practitioner attention and dues.
• American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA): ASLA is the professional association for landscape architects in the U.S. Community design practitioners working on equitable public space, green infrastructure, and built environment justice often have ASLA membership, making it a broad incumbent with overlapping practitioner base.
• Urban Land Institute (ULI): ULI is a global research and education organization focused on responsible land use and real estate. Community design practitioners engaging with development finance, equitable development, and built environment policy often overlap with ULI's membership, making it a broad incumbent peer.

Direct peers

• Architects Foundation: The Architects Foundation is the philanthropic arm of AIA focused on design education, equity, and community impact. It overlaps directly with ACD's community design mission and competes for foundation funding in the design-and-equity space; an ACD member (Joel Mills) is associated with it.
• National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA): NOMA is a professional organization for minority architects and designers that emphasizes equity, representation, and community impact in design. It shares ACD's mission focus on racial justice in the built environment and serves overlapping practitioner demographics, making it a direct peer in the equity-focused design space.
• Enterprise Community Partners: Enterprise Community Partners is a national nonprofit that invests in affordable housing and community development, with designer members in ACD. It operates at the intersection of design and community equity that defines ACD's mission, making it a peer in mission and a key organizational member.
• Public Architecture: Public Architecture is a nonprofit that mobilizes designers to create social impact through pro bono work and equity-focused design (originator of 'The 1%' pledge). It serves a similar practitioner community focused on community design and equity, making it a direct peer in mission and audience.
• MASS Design Group: MASS Design Group is an architecture and design firm that explicitly pursues social justice through design practice and is a listed ACD member organization. It represents the model of a community design practice that ACD's professional infrastructure supports, making it both a peer and a key member organization.

Regional players

• Habitat for Humanity International: Habitat for Humanity is a large nonprofit focused on affordable housing and community development, with international scope. While not a professional association, it engages community design practitioners and shares equity-in-the-built-environment goals, making it an adjacent peer in the community design ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/acdtweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/AssociationforCommunityDesign
• Instagraminstagram.com/communitydesign_org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Association for Community Design