The Community Development Society (CDS) is a nonprofit corporation established in 1969 to strengthen and advance community development policy, practice, learning, and research through educational and scientific means, including:

• Providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among community developers;
• Advocating for and awarding excellence in advancing the common good through community development policy and practice and scholarship and research;
• Providing platforms for the dissemination of professional and scholarly works; and
• Providing opportunities for dialogue and deliberation among CDS Members.