Catalytic Communities (CatComm) was founded in 2000 to provide communities around the world with a central space for the documentation and consultation of their own collective wisdom. Our mission is to administer virtual and physical spaces designed to empower and inspire a global network of community-generated solutions. To this end, CatComm provides community organizers with online tools including its unique Community Solutions Database (CSD), and a model community technology hub (telecenter) in Rio de Janeiro that also serves as a central meeting space for local leaders, all designed to support a global network of community-generated solutions.

Our network exists in both virtual and physical settings which interact in numerous, seamless ways. In cyberspace you can find us at www.comcat.org in Portuguese, www.catcomm.org in English, and www.comcatz.org in Spanish. Communityscale innovations have been documented online directly to the CSD from Brazil, the US, Israel, Sudan, Togo, India, and Canada. They are then translated by an international network of volunteer translators. Once featured in our CSD, communities can learn from the experience of their peers elsewhere on the globe. Instead of “reinventing the wheel” when new challenges arise, community groups consult the CSD for projects elaborated by their peers that help them reflect on how to proceed. Catalytic Communities draws on the power of the Internet to build the capacity of community initiatives to inform one another through a process of collective community intelligencebuilding.

Through theCatComm Network, volunteers learn about opportunities to support previously isolated community initiatives in their own cities and abroad. Journalists discover that news can, indeed, be positive in today’s world as they find community programs worthy of attention that were unknown before CatComm’s site, even in parts of their own communities. Philanthropists find they can target their support to specific community-level initiatives that interest them, even thousands of miles away, without having to go through large intermediary institutions that spend large sums on administration. And, most importantly, communities find inspiration in one another,discovering programs in their own city and on the other side of the planet organized by peers who have accomplished so much with limited financial resources.

Our target audience is comprised primarily of low-income communities worldwide, particularly in developing countries, whose interests encompass issues such as water and environmental health; infrastructure; cultural preservation; employment and livelihood issues; education and capacity-building; community organizing; health and safety; and communications. Though we focus on all of these issues, the content and use of our online resources are determined by the communities we serve: the issues they tackle and the resources they need are our primary guides in determining the focus of our work.


Links: http://www.comcat.org in Portuguese, www.catcomm.org in English, and www.comcatz.org in Spanish (though you can also access them from one another)

Catalytic Communities was founded by Theresa Williamson (US). She has worked as Executive Director for four years. In her current role, she is CatComm’s primary fund-raiser, liaison to the Board of Directors, and oversees staff responsible for day-to-day organizational management and oversight. Theresa also oversees all program strategy, development and activity. Between October 2000 and December 2004, CatComm evolved from an idea into a viable and effective organization, a reference among community leaders in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region. Today, over 1000 Rio-based residents use our services on a regular basis, most of them community organizers.