News Center

March 29, 2012 – Community builder and author Tom Borrup will give a free public presentation – “Sustaining Our Communities: Is There a Role for Creativity?” — at 7:30 p.m. on April 10 in 
Schultz Banquet Hall at Allegheny College.

Borrup specializes in strategic planning, community transformation, partnership building and program evaluation. He pioneered cultural asset mapping and leveraging cultural resources for economic development and civic participation.

A leader and innovator in community building for 30 years, Borrup works with cities, foundations, nonprofits and public agencies to tap the potential of their creative assets.

Borrup has served as a consultant to arts organizations and to foundations and cities around the U.S. He has been a community activist and nonprofit arts administrator for over 25 years, including 13 years with Minneapolis-based Intermedia Arts.

The author of “The Creative Community Builder’s Handbook,” a step-by-step planning guide for community leaders, he has written extensively on culture and community.

He teaches for the University of Massachusetts, Drexel University and St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. During his visit to Allegheny, he will be meeting with classes and various campus groups.

Borrup’s presentation is part of the Year of Sustainable Communities at Allegheny College, a series of activities, workshops and events aimed at inspiring the campus and community to examine what makes a community sustainable in the richest sense of the word — that is, able to provide a good quality of life to those who live and work there and to be resilient in the face of challenges.