Purpose Meets Place in Atlanta

Place is never neutral. Who builds it, who owns it, and who gets to stay are questions with real consequences for real communities. When CSN started thinking about where to bring everyone together for the 2027 SPRE Summit, we wanted the answer to reflect what we believe. Atlanta does that.

Atlanta is a city where the stakes of land, ownership, and community power have never been abstract.

Shaped by the fight to stay rooted, to build generational wealth, and to create spaces that serve the people who actually live and work there, Atlanta is not a case study. It is a living example of why social purpose real estate matters and what becomes possible when communities hold the reins. Gathering here feels honest.

We will convene at the Calvin Smyre Conference Center at Morehouse School of Medicine, part of the historic Morehouse College, one of the country's most celebrated HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). It is an institution that has spent decades putting community wellbeing and equitable impact at the center of everything it does. Not as aspiration, but as practice. The center honors a legislator who showed up for his community consistently and with intention. Walking into that building, you feel it. We are glad to bring our community into it.

Attendees will stay at The American Hotel. As the first integrated hotel in the country, it carries a remarkable piece of history, a place that chose to open its doors to everyone at a time when doing so was a radical act. It embodies what it means to say that all people belong. So do we.

Connecting purpose to place is what CSN does. Atlanta in May 2027 is what that looks like in practice.

We hope you will join us. Save your spot and be part of the conversation moving the social purpose real estate field forward. We look forward to seeing you May 4-6, 2027 in Atlanta.

For more information on the SPRE Summit 2027, visit www.spresummit.org

Community Spaces Network is compiling and sharing grants and funding resources from foundations, government sources, and philanthropic initiatives relevant to SPRE work. As a member, you now have access to this curated list of third-party funding resources gathered just for you. We are adding new opportunities regularly, so check back to catch the updates!

Looking for something more tailored? We’re happy to help — sign up for your free one-hour member consulting call, and we can create a specialized funding search based on your needs.

As a collaborative network, peer learning is at the heart of CSN’s work and one of our favorite ways to grow as a community. CSN members can present at conferences, professional development trainings, and webinars throughout the year. Have an idea for a webinar that you’d like to share with the network? We are now taking member submissions!

Simply complete this form and we’ll reach out to discuss opportunities for presenting your project or expertise with the CSN community. You can also just submit a topic you'd like to hear about to help shape our webinar content. We want to hear from you! Questions? Email us at membership@communityspaces.org.

Thank you to those who joined us at the SPRE Summit 2025 co-presented by Community Spaces Network (CSN) and Community Vision (CV)! From May 6-8 in Los Angeles, CA, over 300+ SPRE leaders, organizers, funders, and changemakers came together to explore what’s possible in mission-based development, ownership, and stewardship of social purpose real estate. 

Key Highlights:

• 99 speakers were featured across 2 Plenaries that unpacked bold ideas around capital, ownership, and systemic change; 28 Workshops that delivered actionable strategies on sustainability, shared services, co-ownership, and more; and 6 Mini Consults that offered attendees opportunities for small-group and one-on-one guidance from sector experts.
• SPRE Tours showcased real-world examples of community-centered development. Attendees explored the historic and culturally rich neighborhoods of Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights, as well as community spaces in action, including Legacy LA, LA Más, and Homeboy Industries.
• Roundtable Lunches & Happy Hours provided networking opportunities and deepened peer-engagement. 
• Dine-Around Dinners gave space for reflection, storytelling, and shared purpose over great food at restaurants in downtown Los Angeles.
• The California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund will receive a $5,000 donation on behalf of all attendees, in lieu of summit swag, to collectively support local communities affected by this year’s wildfires. 

The CSN Awards were announced and presented during the Opening Reception. The Community Space of Excellence Award went to Together Center in Redmond, WA, and the Emergent Leader in SPRE Award was presented to Sally-Anne Woolnough, Executive Director of Kirk Centre in Alberta.

Thank You to every speaker, volunteer, sponsor, and attendee for making this possible. The momentum continues — and so does the work. 

We look forward to seeing you at SPRE Summit 2027! To get updates on the next SPRE Summit, please visit www.spresummit.org and sign up to receive information on future gatherings. 

Best regards, 
SPRE Summit Organizers

Community Spaces Network is excited to present our fourth state of the sector survey! The state of the sector survey has been and is key to understanding the scope and impact of shared space centers across the US and Canada. It’s also CSN’s most requested resource. 

Nonprofit shared space centers, a key example of social purpose real estate (SPRE), provide high-quality, affordable workspace, meeting space, community venues, as well as opportunities for collaboration and cost sharing that support their tenants to achieve greater community impact. Since 2011, the Community Spaces Network (CSN, formerly Nonprofit Centers Network) has conducted the State of the Shared Space Sector survey to assess the impact of these spaces. The survey aims to provide a broad picture of the state of the nonprofit shared space field across the United States and Canada, assess the impacts and benefits of these spaces, and capture innovation and best practices. This assessment of the sector is particularly critical now, as operators of shared spaces emerge from the pandemic and are reimagining how they use these spaces to create thriving and resilient places that support both the nonprofit tenants and the wider community.

Save the Date:

May 6-8, 2025

Los Angeles, California, US

Did you see the announcement to mark your calendars yet? Community Spaces Network and Community Vision are thrilled to co-present the Social Purpose Real Estate Summit 2025. Save the date and join us May 6-8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California where we will bring together community real estate professionals and practitioners interested, active, and expert in all aspects of commercial community spaces.

Learn more here!