An Introduction to Stewardship

Stewardship is defined as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” When applied to our collective work to advance healthy, equitable, sustainable communities, it describes leaders—both people and organizations—who take responsibility for forming working relationships to drive transformative change in regions and communities. Importantly, stewards must have a vested interest in promoting an equity orientation in regard to purpose, power, and wealth. 


Everyone can be a steward! Certainly, individuals can serve as stewards to advance community well-being, and stewardship is best accomplished when people work together across differences and sectors to expand the Vital Conditions that all people and places need to thrive, starting with those struggling and suffering. We typically see stewardship having the greatest impact as a mechanism for shared responsibility and collective action; when the work has expanded, aligned breadth and depth, and in turn, expanded reach and impact. 


Explore the resources below to learn more about stewardship.

Cover of Communities WIN
Communities WIN: A Community Guide for Dialogue and Action
Tool - Toolkit/toolbox
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/22/2020
Cover of Thriving Campuses: A Campus Guide for Well-Being, Equity and Thriving Together
Thriving Campuses: A Campus Guide for Well-Being, Equity and Thriving Together
Tool - Toolkit/toolbox
Brought to you by Community Commons
Commons Good Podcast
Resource - Podcast
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/14/2020
Staff Pick!
Shared Stewardship in Health Care
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by Well Being Trust
ReThink Health; Rippel Foundation
The Stew
Resource - Blog
Brought to you by ReThink Health
All-American City Award logo
All-America City Award Finalists: Stewardship in Action
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Thriving Campuses Toolkit banner image
Thriving Campuses Toolkit
Tool - Toolkit/toolbox
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/05/2022

Stewardship is a core component of any work to advance equitable well-being—without stewards, there would be no one to actually do the work. Most of us want equitable well-being for all, but making it happen is challenging. Stewardship, especially shared stewardship that engages people, organizations, local communities, etc., in collaborative work, is a promising mechanism by which we can shift investments and systems to support thriving communities. 


Our partners at The Rippel Foundation are leaders in researching stewardship and related concepts and they have piloted this work in communities around the U.S. In late 2019, ReThink Health, an initiative of The Rippel Foundation, teamed up with the RAND Corporation to explore major trends that affect how selected stewards think and act. Their published report shares, “There is no single entry point or established career path into this work. No core curriculum exists, nor are certain advanced credentials needed to enter this field. Virtually anyone can be a steward of well-being, and anyone can help to grow the field of system stewardship by drawing others into the work.” They also share a few examples of how stewards act to help communities: 


  • Increasing investments in the vital conditions for well-being, like humane housing, meaningful work, and a thriving natural world, and decreasing reliance on urgent services

  • Helping health care systems shift resources to focus on whole-person community health

  • Remaking power structures to be more inclusive

  • Improving communication between separate institutions, between departments within a single institution, and between institutions and community residents

Stewardship shows up in our work at Community Commons through existing and emerging national networks we participate in, with the goal of aligning thinking and approaches across organizations and communities. Networks help organize and scale shared stewardship to advance well-being. At Community Commons, we connect those driving change to the best tools, resources, data, and stories to support the work, and we are uniquely-positioned to share the ideas coming from these networks. We aim to learn from and contribute to experts in the field, to share local successes nationally, and to build bridges connecting communities doing similar work around the nation. We strongly believe our shared stewardship can catalyze stewardship at the local level—in your community.


Below, we’ve included a collection of stewards that affirm our shared definition of stewardship, and who bring powerful resources, tools, and framing to support collective work to advance wellbeing.

Screen shot of the Living Room Guides homepage
Living Room Conversations
Resource - Guide/handbook
Screen shot of the homepage for Weave
Weaving Community During Crisis
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by The Aspen Institute
Team members joining hands. Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash
Well Being in the Nation (WIN) Network
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 10/21/2019
Screen capture of A Health Breakthrough that Depends on People, Not Drugs
A Health Breakthrough that Depends on People, Not Drugs
Story - Written
Brought to you by Yes! Magazine
Published on 01/01/2020
Screen grab of Well Being in the Nation Medley video
Well Being in the Nation Medley
Story - Video
Published on 11/18/2020

History of Stewardship

Stewardship is not a new concept. Throughout history, stewards have endeavored to extend what is healthy and humane, while working with equal vigor to resist and remove what is toxic and cruel. The past few decades have seen an increase in recognition of stewards’ importance and critical role in creating positive system change.  


By definition, equity is at the core of stewardship. Stewards understand that power must be built and distributed with others, not consolidated, and that wealth must be invested, not withheld, to create long-term value and address short-term urgent community needs. Effective stewardship demands acknowledgement that the systems in which we live greatly impact our well-being, and these systems were not built to be fully inclusive. As stewards, we must acknowledge and do what we can to reverse systemic inequities, share power, and engage those with lived experience who have been most affected.

Stewardship in Action

There are countless examples of stewardship happening at many different levels. Any person or organization can be a steward of well-being -- as long as they are willing to share responsibility for working together with others to change the system we inhabit today and expand opportunities for all people to thrive tomorrow. Stewards believe in the power of working across differences and in solidarity with those who are struggling and suffering. Stewards exert influence from their positions at an organization or in the community; they share values and actions, but must also respond to the unique attributes of their community.


Explore stewardship in action:

Revitalizing St. Louis’ South Side
Story - Written
Brought to you by Community Commons
screenshot of the front page of the story
Unsung Stewards Podcast
Story - Audio
Brought to you by ReThink Health
Photo of colorful umbrellas hanging above a city street. Photo by Darya Tryfanava on Unsplash
WIN Community Pacesetter Stories: The Collection
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Screen capture of Want to Help Communities Thrive? Invest in Residents Eager to Disrupt the Status Quo. article
Want to Help Communities Thrive? Invest in Residents Eager to Disrupt the Status Quo.
Story - Written
Brought to you by The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Published on 03/14/2023
Photo of a book that reads
Faith Community Health: Integrating Faith and Health for Improved Quality of Life
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 12/04/2018
colorful wall mural Photo by Leila Boujnane on Unsplash
All-America City Award Finalists Stewardship in Action: Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 11/01/2020
Cincinnati Mural Wall. Photo by Stacy Wegley
We Are Here: Housing Insecurity in Cincinnati: The Collection
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
A mural of a person with different patterns in their hair. Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash.
Bringing the Vital Conditions to Life through People, Place, and Possibility
Story - Original
Brought to you by Community Commons