Groundwork Milwaukee

It's the way we do things that matters most - achieving results through people. This means working with our partners in a way that empowers them and helps them achieve their objectives. - John Handley, Groundwork UK Executive Director, February 1982

Groundwork Milwaukee's mission is to bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social well-being. We are devoted to transforming the natural and built environment of low-resource communities—a national enterprise with local roots, working at the intersection of the environment, equity, and civic engagement. We are committed to:

• pursuing a future in which everyone’s neighborhood environment is green, healthy and resilient,
• undoing legacies of poverty and racial discrimination, and
• breaking the trend of widening disparity between communities that are enjoying a renaissance and communities that are experiencing disinvestment, neglect, and deepening poverty.

We believe in leading by doing. We seek to broaden participation by producing tangible improvements in people’s lives, staying positive, and learning at every step of the way.

In Milwaukee, Groundwork is best known for our community gardens, a place where the community comes together to meet, to connect, to work together towards a bright and vibrant future for our city. But that is just the beginning. Through our programming, education and training, events and environmental advocacy, we address food insecurity, climate change, urban conservation, and workforce development.