Partners

In December 2004, a group of Virginia-based advocacy organizations and partners recognized the critical need for independent and effective statewide analysis and convened to outline the parameters of a successful policy organization.

Led by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (http://www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org ), these original partners included:

• Virginia Coalition for the Homeless
• Virginia Community Action Partnership
• Virginia Organizing Project
• Virginia Poverty Law
• Voices for Virginia’s Children
• Catholic Diocese of Richmond’s Office of Justice & Peace

The partners agreed on the scope of a successful statewide organization. It would need to:

• analyze Virginia’s annual budget, both for an expression of overall priorities and for specifics relating to programs for low-income individuals;
• analyze historical trends in budget priorities and revenues and the impact of the trends on low-income populations;
• monitor levels of revenues and expenditures throughout the year;
• urge greater transparency on fiscal issues;
• analyze which groups benefit from actual or proposed tax and budget policies; 
• prepare simple, accessible materials to educate the public about fiscal issues and, in conjunction with advocates, conduct community-level public education on fiscal issues than can foster greater participation in fiscal decision-making;

Borne out of those discussions, The Commonwealth Institute was designed to accomplish the goals articulated by these partners and was officially launched in December 2006.

We are an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. We develop realistic reforms that state policymakers can put to work with a particular emphasis issues of importance to low- and moderate-income residents.