7 Ways to Build Capacity in the Filipino Community
What Does Building Capacity Mean?
Building capacity is more than offering programs or services. It is about strengthening the people, systems, and connections that allow the community to thrive. It’s about creating the conditions for meaningful leadership an empowerment. Investing in people, valuing lived experience, and ensuring that the community has the tools, knowledge, and voice to shape solutions meant for them.
The Filipino community naturally steps into positions of care and giving to others without hesitation and often without asking for anything in return. We often are willing to humbly accept what is offered to us and settle for initiatives that are not fully designed with us in mind. When something is meant for us, it deserves to be done right. We deserve to be heard, valued, and given the same care and thoughtfulness that we give to others.
Capacity building is a continuous journey of learning, collaboration, and shared growth. When the community leads, initiatives are more effective, relationships are stronger, and the impact lasts longer.
Here are some tips we have learned through our work on how you can apply these principles to support the community around you.
1. Start by Listening
Capacity building starts with hearing directly from those it impacts. Listening is the first step to understanding what the community truly needs. From there, we can create initiatives and support that truly serve and strengthen the community.
WHY IT MATTERS: Listening creates understanding. When we hear directly from community members, we can design programs, events, and initiatives that are relevant, effective, and grounded in real experiences.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Host listening sessions, surveys, or informal conversations. Ask open-ended questions and dedicate time to reflect on the responses before making decisions.
2. Prioritize Lived Experience
People with lived experience bring insights no one else can offer. Their voices guide decisions so that programs and initiatives respond to actual needs. Involving them ensures the work is relevant, practical, and community-informed.
WHY IT MATTERS: Solutions designed without lived experience often miss the mark. When community members lead the way, initiatives are practical, inclusive, and meaningful.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Include community members in advisory committees, co-design teams, or feedback groups. Highlight their perspectives in decision making, planning and communications.
3. Invest in People, Not Just Programs
Programs may end, but the skills, knowledge, and confidence people gain can last a lifetime. Investing in individuals builds long-term community strength. When people are supported, they can take on leadership and create solutions that last.
WHY IT MATTERS: Developing skills and leadership ensures the community can respond to challenges and advocate for itself. Knowledge and experience do not stay with just one person or one organization. They are passed on, empowering new leaders to step up. In this way, the impact lasts across generations, creating a stronger, more capable community over time.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Offer training, mentorship, and leadership development. Encourage peer learning and celebrate personal achievements to build confidence and capability.
4. Create Spaces for Connection
Connection is at the heart of strong communities. When people feel seen and valued, they feel safe to share their time, energy, and ideas. These relationships create a foundation where collaboration and care flow naturally.
WHY IT MATTERS: Create spaces where people feel welcome, safe, and able to share their ideas. Encourage collaboration through events, meet-ups, or conversations, and show that input is heard and valued.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Organize events, cultural gatherings, or informal meet-ups. Foster cross-generational dialogue and opportunities for different groups within the community to collaborate.
5. Decisions for the Community are Community-Led Decisions
True capacity building happens when decision-making is community-led. When people have a voice, they take ownership and help shape outcomes that reflect real needs. This process also develops new leaders who can step up and sustain community growth over time.
WHY IT MATTERS: Communities that lead their own decisions are more resilient, adaptive, and able to respond to challenges. Knowledge, experience, and leadership don’t stay with just one person or one organization—they are passed on, creating capacity that lasts across generations. Community-led decisions also build trust and accountability.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Include community members in planning, budgeting, and program design. Be transparent about decisions and actively invite input.
6. Honour Culture, History, and Identity
Culture shapes who we are, but it looks different for everyone. It includes stories, traditions, and practices passed down from elders, and how we communicate, celebrate, and live our identities. Whether someone is born at home, in the diaspora, or somewhere in between, all experiences are valid, and listening to the community ensures initiatives reflect these diverse cultural perspectives.
WHY IT MATTERS: Recognizing and celebrating culture and history fosters belonging, strengthens pride, and motivates meaningful participation. It ensures initiatives resonate with the community and are grounded in shared values while honouring individual experiences.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Incorporate cultural practices into programs and communications, highlight stories from elders, and create space for diverse expressions of identity. Listen to the community’s experiences and adapt initiatives to reflect the wide range of cultural realities.
7. Design with Community, Not Around Them
The most effective initiatives are created with the community, not imposed on it. Co-design ensures relevance, sustainability, and trust. When people help shape what’s being created, the results reflect real needs and experiences.
WHY IT MATTERS: When initiatives are designed with the community, they are more relevant, effective, and sustainable. Community-informed projects reflect real needs and experiences, rather than assumptions or top-down decisions. Involving people from the start builds ownership, accountability, and trust, and ensures the work resonates with those it is meant to serve. Co-design also develops leadership, skills, and confidence within the community, creating the foundation for long-term impact that extends across generations.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Involve community members from the start, pilot ideas together, and adjust based on feedback. Use principles like #DesignedByCommunity to guide all projects.
The Future Is #DesignedByCommunity
Building capacity is a continuous journey of planting seeds for the future—creating opportunities, spaces, and support that help people and the community grow in ways that last. It’s about trusting the community to guide its own path, while providing the resources, encouragement, and accountability needed to thrive.
True growth happens when ideas, traditions, and leadership flow freely, and every voice has a chance to shape what comes next. The work we do today sets the stage for new leaders, stronger connections, and a more resilient, self-sustaining community.
The future of our community is built together. #DesignedByCommunity for community.
